Thursday, 15 August 2013

KNM: Volume 1 Chapter 1


This chapter is brought to you by AnmesicCat and StellarAshes.

Staff Note

Hello everyone,

Here's the first chapter of Yu Wo's (The author of Half Prince (1/2 Prince), and Legend of the Sun Knight) novel "Kill no More".

I hope you like our small surprise, and enjoy your read.

 



 

Fateful Meeting


“Ah, cleaning is really a chore.” A slender boy, who looked almost handsome and cute, straightened his aching back, and returned to sweeping with his broom in discontent while mumbling complains: “How wonderful would it be if I had a Maxun to help me sweep!”

However, it was nothing but a fantasy. A Maxun costs a lot of money, especially a full-featured one, and it wasn't something a minor with random part-time jobs could afford, especially when he has to go to school. The damn tuition was so expensive, he got dizzy from working everyday, and he often found himself standing in front of his school, with a guava in his hands.

What? Bombing a school is immoral? How could you bomb a school with a guava? What do you think a guava is, a hand grenade? Hmph, how could he possibly afford a hand grenade. It would be nice even if he could afford a guava to break the school’s window. But seriously, the reinforced glass in the school can’t be broken by a single guava. Upholding his principle of not letting anything go to waste, the guava was, of course, saved every time, and later became his after meal fruit.

Pzz!

The boy frowned, what was that strange sound? Could be the pre-owned automatic laundry, spinning, tumble dry, and super old to the point of being ancient, washing Maxun was giving him trouble again? Oh no! The boy rushed anxiously to check the condition of the washing Maxun, because his only remaining uniform was inside. If he loses his last uniform, he would have to wear underwear to school.

Before the boy reached the Maxun, he already knew the sound had absolutely nothing to do with the pitiful machine. A strange, colourful whirlpool appeared beside him, and became bigger and bigger. His poor room soon began to distort...

“Goddammit! I know I’m very unlucky, but I can’t be this unlucky, right?” The boy looked around the distorted space helplessly. The boy wondered if the same unluckiness that killed his parents was going to kill him now: “Even cleaning a room was going to lead to this?”

Despite his complaints, the boy decided he wanted to live, so he hurriedly backed away from the distorted space. When he was just about to jump out the window, a flash of light intrigued him. Although his right foot was already on the window pane, he couldn’t help but look at the strange phenomenon behind him.

The whirlpool started expanding outward, suddenly a ray of light emerged, followed by thousands more, filling the entire room...

“Holy sh*t!” The boy could not help but curse in his native dialect. His eyes had been blinded by the light. He desperately shook his head, trying to shake off the dizziness caused by the light. The boy cursed: “Damn, the ancestors were right; curiousity would really f—ing kill a cat.”

Even though he was blinded, he could still somewhat sense the changes around him. The temporary blindness was already fading, and the strange feeling of the surrounding space gradually dissipated. Instead of the whirlpool, there stood a person! The boy grabbed the gun on the table, and without looking, aimed at the person by using his senses.

“Who is it?” The boy’s eyes was recovering and he could see the person’s outline. Judging from the person’s outline, he doesn’t seem very muscular but normally, the real gosu* aren’t the muscular type. He asked carefully, but at the same time, held his gun at the person.
[T/N: Gosu - A Korean term used to refer to a highly skilled person.]

Who knew the whirlpool would spit out yet another person, who had a really strong murderous intent, and raised a weapon to greet the person who arrived before.

“Master, why don’t you give up now. The organisation will not let you go, so it’s better to die in my hands.” The second person who had murderous intent said coldly. Judging by the voice, the person was a woman.

“Yasha, the murderous intent you emit is too strong, and it’s not something a real Assassin should do.” The so-called Master plainly corrected the student’s mistake.

“Shut up!” Yasha yelled, her buried anger surfacing. She will never be this person’s subordinate, never! The legendary perfect Assassin will be stopped by her, and she will take over the title as the best Assassin! Killing him, as long as she kills the Master who started her to the path of being an Assassin, she will be become best Assassin!

The two silently stood facing each other. Other than the sound of the Master’s blood dripping, everything else seemed like the calm before a storm... A duel to death was about to start!

“Oh wow, what are you two doing in someone else’s house? Saying things I don’t understand, and now you’re all quiet. Hey! If you guys are going to fight go outside! If you break anything in my house, I swear I will make you pay, and I mean it...” The boy finally recovered his sight, and saw a man and a woman facing each other.

They were both cold as ice. The boy curiously observed: the guy was tall and slender, wearing black clothes; along with his black hair, he looked completely black. As far as his face goes, he had an oval face, which made him look a little delicate. Along with his silver iris, this man has an inexplicable way of intimidating people. The boy couldn’t help but shiver.

The woman, on the other hand, was quite colorful. Her bright red hair was paired together with green eyes. This strange combination didn’t feel conflicting, instead, it made her more glamorous. The only problem with was her eyes, they felt really cold. The boy shook his head and sighed.

But! What these two people look like had nothing to do with him. More importantly, the immense hatred between them was really scaring him. He was afraid of anything being broken inside his home. Being poor, he really couldn’t afford to go on trial for two murders in his home.

Yasha moved suddenly; or perhaps it shouldn’t be called move, because she disappeared where she stood, and then suddenly appeared in front of the man. The razor in her hand had already silently cut his throat...

“Damn, really?” The boy stared in awe, he had already been decapitated? The man looked pretty strong. Sh*t, I might have to use some powerful detergent to clean off the blood off the ground.

However, there wasn’t even a half drop of blood. It turned out the man was nothing but a shadow. Surprised, Yasha immediately turned around to see if the man was behind her, only to find a hand gently pressed on her neck. To be exact, what was holding her neck wasn't a hand, but rather, just two fingers.

But Yasha knew clearly that these two fingers were enough to take her life!

“Hehehe....” Yasha wasn’t scared, but rather, she started laughing, and sarcastically asked the person behind her: “What? The so-called ‘best Assassin’ isn’t brave enough to kill me? My Master used to kill people without them feeling any pain... Because before they have felt anything they would already be meeting Hades!”

The man stayed silent.

“Don’t be stupid, Master. An Assassin will always be an Assassin.” Yasha’s voice turned cold, and pushed away the man’s hand without any fear. She said coldly: “You will break the promise with that person. An Assassin can never not kill! Especially you, Master.”

The man stood quietly; his face remained the same—expressionless!

“I will not kill you today, but one day, I will.” Yasha's lips suddenly turned into a dangerous and seductive smile: “Master, kill me today, otherwise I will continue you hunt you down for as long as I live.” If she could get the Master to break the promise with that person, even if the price was her life, she was willing to do it.

The man said dismissively: “Leave, Yasha. I will not kill people.”

“Hmph!” Is that person really important to you? Damn! Yasha's face revealed a jealous expression. The person whom Master should be paying attention to was her! She’s Master’s only apprentice.

“From now onwards, you are no longer my Master, but an enemy I must kill!” As soon as Yasha finished shouting this, she turned to leave. But... Where is this? She finally realised the strangeness of the room.

The boy who helplessly held a gun said: “As the ‘master of the room’, can you guys stop ignoring me?” The two had been treating him as if he was transparent. If he could understand what they were saying, then at least he could watch them like a Soap Opera: the love and hate between a man and a woman... Hehe, it’ll be interesting to watch.

But the problem was he couldn’t understand anything of what they were saying!

“Open the door and let me out! Else you’ll die.” Yasha said coldly, then knitted her eyebrows and looked at the confused boy.

Was she talking to him? The boy scratched his face, shrugged, and walked to the central processing Maxun he uses everyday. He picked up something that looked like a safety hat, walked in front of the woman, raised the hat to her, and said, “Wear this.”

Yasha frowned, without taking the safety hat. She didn’t know if the boy means her any harm.

The boy impatiently pointed at the hat, then made the gesture of putting on a hat; he scurried her again: “Put it on; hurry.”

Yasha’s face became colder, and the razor in her hand began to move...

The man, however, walked in towards the boy, took the hat from him, and put it on without any hesitation.

Upon seeing his actions, the boy walked back to the central processing Maxun and pressed a few buttons on the transparent console. Finally, he hit a button labelled ‘Language Transmission’.

The safety hat suddenly started glowing with colorful lights. As the lights shone, the man frowned slightly. Being forced fed information to his brain doesn’t feel good, and many images flashed through in his brain. Nonetheless, he didn’t make any noise, since the amount of pain wasn’t nearly enough to make him grumble.

After a while, the light on the safety hat started to fade, until it returned to its original plain state. Then when the boy started asked: “Can you understand me now?”

The man nodded slightly, and spoke with the same language as the boy: “Yes.”

“Good, now we don’t have any communication barrier.” The boy nodded satisfactorily.

“I am from...” the man began to explain.

“I know!” The boy impatiently waved his hand and cut him off: “From another dimension!”

The man was astonished: “Yes...”

“Nowadays, even space isn’t reliable. People are falling out of different dimensions, and the media doesn’t report it anymore.” The boy helplessly placed his arms to his sides, wondering why he was so unlucky, that these people arrived in his home. What should he do now?

He was, afterall, a really lazy person, so he decided to send these strangers to a shelter! The boy approved of his decision, and said eagerly: “Because we have too many people coming from other dimensions, the Aklan Empire has designated shelters for them. You guys will need to leave this place, take a left, cross two streets, get over a lake, through a park, and there will be a management office. Tell them you’re from another dimension and they will settle you into a shelter.”

The man was startled, and then said indifferently: “I don’t need to go to a shelter. I will make a living.”

Upon hearing this, the boy became interested, and asked excitedly: “Oh? What can you do?” Maybe the man was the person who could rescue him from poverty, continuous part-time jobs, cold and hunger? Maybe he’ll even live an elegant life? If that was the case, then it’ll be great! Thinking about this, the boy’s face began to brighten.

The man seemed to be surprised by the boy’s face lightening up, becoming a 500 watt light bulb. After being quiet for a while, he answered: “I’m an Assassin.”

A-S-S-A-S-S-I-N?! As if to compliment his facial expression, his eyes began to brighten too. His face also began to show a flattering expression: “Good, that profession is a promising, well-paying, low-cost, and high-return profession!”

The Assassin seemed confused, how could anyone describe his profession like this? But then he composed himself and added: “But, I promised never to kill again!”

Quietness settled the room and the boy’s smile was gone in an instant. He pointed at the door and said: “Get the hell out, Mr. Never-Kill-Assassin.”

Differential treatment was quite obvious. The Assassin walked to the door, only to see a smooth white door without handle, and he didn’t know how to get out.

The boy yelled impatiently: “Open sesame.”

The door opened instantly. The first person to walk out wasn’t the Assassin, but the woman, Yasha. She turned around as she was leaving, and with a deadly smile on her face, she said: “Farewell, Master.”

Yasha... The Assassin felt relatively sad.

“Hey, leave with your woman already. Don’t stand there and bleed! Do you know blood odors are really hard to clean?” The irritated boy looked at the blood dripping from the Assassin—damn, he just finished cleaning!

Although he had many questions about where he was, the Assassin didn’t say much, especially when the owner has given the eviction notice. He quietly walked out, and the door mercilessly shut behind him. The Assassin looked at the strange world he had never seen. Was he nervous?

“Assassin Rules #3: No matter where you are, always keep calm...” The Assassin murmured.

… Even if the buildings outside were all towering. But what was stranger was their design... No, the reason they are strange was because they had no design. Domes, spires, and all sorts of strangely twisted shapes can be seen. The only word he could use them to describe them was ‘total chaos’.

… There were hundreds, no, thousands of bizarre hemispheres flying around in the sky. If his eyes weren’t playing tricks on him, he saw a few Dragons amongst the flying objects, and there were people riding those Dragons.

Despite being the strongest and coldest Assassin, he had to take a few deep breaths to deal with all the unfamiliar sights.

Slowly appeasing his nerves, the Assassin began to think. He was about 50 stories* above the ground, and he couldn’t find any form of stairs leading to the surface. The flying objects around him were so erratic, it seemed like they could hit him at any time... What could he do? Even for a level-headed Assassin, felt the sadness comparable to a cold wind sweeping away the falling leaves (the Assassin felt helpless). [T/N: 50 story is approximately 165 meters, 541 feet and 4 inches.]

“Why are you still here?” He heard the noisy boy’s voice again.

“I don’t know how to get down.” The Assassin aloofly stated the truth. Yasha... She probably used a rope to get down. Unfortunately, he had already used his rope when he was being chased.

The boy mumbled: “What a pain; why do I always run into trouble like this? I still have to go to work. If I’m late they will deduct my salary, what am I going to eat next month?”

The Assassin remained silent; he didn’t respond to the boy’s complaints. To him, the boy had no responsibility to help a stranger like him. Besides, the boy was already doing him a favor by not calling the police on him after discovering he was an Assassin.

The boy sighed exaggeratedly, and snappily yelled at the Assassin: “Come over here.”

The Assassin turned, and saw the boy walking into a transparent tube with a radius of about a meter. After the boy walked in, he fell straight down to the ground. The Assassin’s heart skipped a beat, and he looked down, only to find the boy was standing on the ground, looking back at him. Although the distance of about ten stories made it hard to see the boy’s face, but it was certain the boy was safe. So this tube was a tool to get downstairs. The Assassin then stepped into the tube. The fact there was nothing for him to step on, made him feel uneasy. The suction from the tube which dragged him down ten stories, made the Assassin so nervous, his pupils dilated.

The boy’s face and loud voice were in front of the Assassin again. He began to complain with obvious dissatisfaction: “Why are you so slow? Do you want to make me late? Hurry up.”

The boy reached to pull the Assassin. If they don’t hurry, then he really wouldn’t have enough money to eat next month.

However, the Assassin moved away by reflex and escaped the boy’s reach. When the boy grabbed air, he just shrugged and said, “Let’s go.”

The Assassin scowled. This world was completely different. Where he was from, he had never seen so much metal. The buildings were metal, roads were metal, and even the trees on the side of the roads looked like it was made out of metal!

“Are those real trees?” Although asking wasn’t something Assassins do, but he couldn’t contain himself.

The boy glanced at him, “Of course not! Those are artificial trees, made to replace the real trees. They convert carbon dioxide to oxygen. Trees are luxuries, and the government would never plant them on the road,” the boy stated as a matter-of-fact.

Trees... Are luxuries? The Assassin smirked. Don’t trees grow as they please on the side of the roads and chopped for firewood?

A hemisphere made out of metal slowly landed beside the two. The Assassin noticed the similarity of the one he saw in the sky, except this one seemed bigger than the others. The smooth surface suddenly opened an oblong hole of about a meter wide and two meters tall, just about enough for a person to comfortably walk through.

“I have to pay for one more bus fare! I wonder if I could get reimbursed by the government?” The boy said with dissatisfaction, and then beckoned the Assassin: “Hurry up; you’re so slow that you don’t seem like an Assassin.” After he said those words, the boy stepped into the oblong-shaped hole.

The Assassin soon quietly followed his steps. Being alone in a strange world, there probably aren’t many people who could keep as composed as he was, instead his speed suffered, and seemed to be slower than usual.

The moment the Assassin stepped inside the strange oval, he suddenly realized the vehicle was transparent. He could easily see the view of outside world. It was as if the metal shell didn’t exist at all.

He could even see below his own feet... And it started to float!

“Come sit down; it’s not like there’s no seats available, so why are you standing?” The boy sat down without any reserve, crossed his legs and leisurely patted the seat next to him.

The Assassin quietly sat down. The boy still had his legs leisurely crossed, seemed ill-fitted given his handsome or cute appearance.

“What’s your name?” The boy asked carelessly; and then he realized he should probably introduce himself first, so he hurriedly added: “My name is Kaiser.”
[T/N: He proceeded to explain which two Chinese characters his names were: Kai, and then Si as in the first character of “driver”]

Kaiser...? The Assassin smiled: “Liola.”
[T/N: In the boy’s initial explanation of his name, it sounded like he was saying Kai’s Driver. That’s why the Assassin found it funny and smiled.]

“What a strange name, as if someone just put random letters together.” Kaiser criticized mercilessly, and then moved onto another topic: “So, what’s your relationship with the fiery red-head? Why did she seem like she wants to cut you into a thousand pieces? Don’t tell me you got her pregnant and then dumped her? I don’t have to tell you this... But, as a man, you have to be liable sometimes. Don’t always do irresponsible things.”

“No.” Liola suddenly felt powerless. The boy’s imagination was a bit too colorful: “I’m her Master, not lover.”

“Master?” Kaiser could not refrain from assessing Liola, ‘Can it be?’ he thought. He thought Liola and the hottie were lovers, but how could she be his apprentice? No matter how he looked, Kaiser thought Liola looked younger than her...

“How old are you?” Kaiser asked bluntly.

“Twenty five.” Liola answered truthfully.

“How old was the hottie?” Kaiser asked again.

“Twenty seven.” Liola thought about it for a while and answered. As far as he remembers, Yasha was two years older than him.

Kaiser touched his forehead and said, “You’re twenty five, she’s twenty seven, so you’re two years younger; how come you’re her master?”

“In the organization, the master-apprentice relationship doesn’t depend on age, but on abilities.” Liola concisely answered. After he finished explaining, he seemed to have sank into his memory. Yasha... Had she not been the precious daughter of the head of the organization, he wouldn’t have had such a troublesome apprentice.

“So to say, you’re very strong?” Kaiser’s eyes brightened again. Strong people have monetary value.

“I’m the best Assassin.” Liola said without holding back.

“Ex-cell-ent!” Kaiser’s put his hands heavily upon Liola’s shoulders, looked at Liola hopefully, and whispered: “Did you see the gentleman behind me who’s wearing glasses?”

Liola nodded without looking. When he was getting on the bus, he already memorized who and what were inside. Assassin Rules #5, no matter when and where, one must always keenly observe his surroundings.

“That guy is a really dangerous man! He’s a legendary rank-X wanted man.” Kaiser whispered excitedly.

“This... What’s exciting about this?” Liola remained confused.

“If you catch him and collect the bounty placed on him, then I wouldn’t have to worry about food or clothes for a long while.” Kaiser could not resist but indulge himself in the fantasy of not having to worry about food or clothes. It would be even better if he could turn the bounty into paper bills and use them to line a bed. He could only imagine how good it would feel to eat while lying on such a bed.

Liola looked at the gentleman from the corner of his eye. Sure enough, the man with the gold framed glasses had already looked at them. His sharp eyes showed some disdain, and his mouth displayed a sinister smile.

Kaiser was so loud, perhaps only the deaf could not hear!

“Let’s get off at the next stop.” Liola talked to Kaiser as though he was talking to the gentleman.

“Good!” Kaiser’s happy expression pressed Liola to glance at him shortly, realizing he was being loud on purpose.

As soon as they got off, Kaiser took out his gun. Even though he dragged Liola with him, he wanted to do his part. At the very least, if things went haywire, he could escape alive.

With a head of blonde hair, blue eyes with gold-framed glasses, a warming and harmless smile, and a black-and-white robe adorned with some unknown symbols, the gentleman appeared to be very strange. After Kaiser assessed the man, he lazily pointed the gun at him and said: “Hey, give it up now, or would you like for me to shoot you?”

Liola slightly frowned when he saw how calm the gentleman was. The gentleman looked petite with thin arms and legs, and not like someone who could fight. At most, he looked like someone who plans evil schemes behind the scenes, surrounded by bodyguards.

“You are sure I’m a rank-X wanted criminal? Do I look like a wanted criminal?” The gentleman smiled slightly, but his eyes seemed to show slight interest, and with a calm demeanor, fixed his gaze onto Kaiser.

Liola’s heart skipped. The person’s eyes looked similar to the leader of his organization. Both the gentleman and the leader have confidence shown in their eyes, as if they are somehow had total control of the situation. These were the kind of people who would always appear commanding on a battlefield and placed on thrones.

“Miseroy, rank-X wanted criminal. Unknown abilities, unknown age, and unknown just about everything. But the strange thing is, they knew exactly what he looked like. It’s rare for them to know the appearance of a rank-X wanted criminal.” Kaiser explained.

“Kaiser, are you sure you could catch him?” The alarm in Liola’s heart wouldn’t stop ringing. His Assassin instinct tells him they shouldn’t mess with this person!

Kaiser turned around with an innocent look on his face, and moved his hands aside and said: “He’s a rank-X criminal, how could I possibly catch him?”

“Rank-X?” Facing this unfamiliar title, Liola suddenly feels uneasy.

“Wanted criminals are divided by ranks from A to F, A being the most dangerous and F being the least.” Kaiser explained carefully: “But there’s an addition rank, rank-X.”

“How strong are they?” Liola frowned.

“Hmm, I heard they are a lot stronger than rank-A. Criminals whose strength are so strong to the point of being unmeasurable, are all grouped into rank-X. There are only ten rank-X criminals in the world currently.” Kaiser’s eyes shone again: “The bounty for every rank-X is enormous. Even if you were to break my arms and legs, it would be enough money for me to spend in ten lives. I can’t believe we ran into a rank-X today in a bus. God treated me well.”

Maybe God wants to kill you... Liola can’t comprehend what’s in Kaiser’s mind. An Assassin should always assess the opponent first, draw up a plan, and then put the plan into action. It would be the wisest choice.

“So, I guess we’ll have to fight?” Miseroy said, still smiling.

“Of course! For me to be able to live comfortably by lying down and not do any work, you should sacrifice a little and go eat free meals in the Aklan jail!” Kaiser proclaimed. Without hesitation, he then raised his gun and fire it blank three times, and then, with a handsome gesture, blew the smoke away from the guy: “Surely rank-X criminals can’t be subdued with just guns. Liola, your turn.”

Liola frowned. Kaiser’s three gunshots were accurate, but he fired them at the wrong time. But how did Miseroy stop those three bullets when they were about three meters away from him? Liola didn’t see Miseroy move, nor did feel any Ki waves from him. The only difference was his smile turning into a malevolent grin.

“You’re a sorcerer?” Kaiser asked, surprised. The situation became dangerous.

Miseroy blinked: “Yep, do you want to try out my powers?”

Liola was still thinking. What kind of powers could possibly make those bullets drop. Suddenly, started to feel a heavy pressure on his body, as if he was carrying the sandbags he used when training to be an Assassin.

“Re-really heavy!” Kaiser was already down on the ground, moaning.

“Ten times the gravity isn’t enough to make you fall?” Miseroy seemed surprised. Ten times the gravity meant the people would feel their weight ten times more, and it will total up to a few hundred kilograms. Ordinary people would already fallen the ground. Miseroy started showing some interest in Liola.

“Ten times the gravity? That’s a strange Kung Fu name.” Liola didn’t understand what gravity meant.

Kaiser, who was lying on the ground, raised his head and shouted: “Idiot, this isn’t Kung Fu. He’s a Sorcerer! A Sorcerer!”

“Sorcerer?” Liola still couldn’t comprehend. However, he knew the man in front of him wasn’t easy to deal with. In the past, he would’ve already cut his throat before the man could attempt anything, but now...

“Twenty times gravity.” Miseroy said gently. After Miseroy casted the spell, Liola’s feet sunk a few centimeters into the ground. Though he could still stand, his facial expressions changed. This weight was no longer something Liola could take lightly. Kaiser was in an even worse condition. Kaiser couldn’t talk, let alone raise his head, and blood was coming out of the edge of his mouth.

“This is some evil Kung Fu!” Liola said with some difficulty.

“I... already... told you... i-it’s not... Kung Fu...” Even though he was dying, he forced himself to correct Liola.

Liola used Fluttering Blood Ki skill he practiced for more than twenty years, and his body felt significantly lighter. Although Miseroy’s gravity spell still affected him, his speed was still unmatched by a normal person. The most important and most basic attribute of an Assassin—speed!

Liola instantly took out a thin silver stick hidden in his boots. Because he can’t kill, Liola did not use any deadlier weapons. He held up the stick and ran towards Miseroy; he was moving so fast, one could only see an afterimage of black shadows. Truthfully, if he wasn’t affected by Miseroy’s gravity spell, people won’t even see those black shadows under the naked eye.

Miseroy’s face, for the first time, showed fright, and immediately increased the intensity of his gravity spell to the limit, making the gravity within one meter of him to increase to a thousand times. The black shadow suddenly stopped and Liola appeared again, and the silver stick stopped mid-air. If someone were to measure it with a ruler, they would find the end of the stick had stopped at exactly one meter and one centimeter away from Miseroy.

Miseroy’s forehead started sweating. He couldn’t believe Liola found out the range of his gravity spell. He had underestimated his opponent.

Liola only paused for a second, and took out a shuriken from his sleeves. Interestingly, this shuriken was not thrown directly at Miseroy. Instead it was aimed above his head, with a parabolic trajectory. In other words, if Miseroy doesn’t move, the shuriken will hit his head with a thousand times gravity.
[T/N: Shuriken is what throwing stars are called in Japanese. Used by ninjas. Ex. Naruto.]

But Miseroy wasn’t interested in adding a hole on his skull, not to mention the hole would probably extend all the way to his feet with because of the gravity and the momentum. Miseroy teleported a step to his left, and his right hand formed a compressed ball of air, and threw it as a bomb towards Liola. But to Liola, it meant nothing. He simply sidestepped to his left, then back. To a bystander, it would look as if he didn’t move, and the ball of air simply passed through his body.

Miseroy’s eyes tightened, and raised his hands and yelled: “Let’s see how you handle this; Failed Lecture — Skyfull Chaos Egg Falls.”

Damn... Was that the name of the spell? Kaiser thought helplessly, finding it unfortunate. Miseroy, who had no creativity for skill names, was responsible for him being on the ground.

Liola didn’t have Kaiser’s leisure to think about how crappy the name is, because thousands of bombs materialized in the sky, was causing Liola quite a headache. For someone who had never seen anything like this, even as the best Assassin, Liola wasn’t sure what to do next.

But, Miseroy didn’t drop the bombs, but rather smiled: “How about we both take a step back?”

“Back, back, back. Liola, go back a few steps.” Kaiser suddenly realized, he himself was in the attack range of ‘Failed Lecture — Skyfull Chaos Egg Falls’, so he agreed to Miseroy’s proposal, while taking several steps back.

Strange as it was, Liola really took a few steps back, stopping only until he reached Kaiser, and then he put the silver stick back into his boot.

Interesting people... Miseroy scratched his face, and cancelled the ‘Failed Lecture — Skyfull Chaos Egg Falls’ spell. He was interested in two guys, and he changed the gravity back to ten times so Kaiser could talk normally.

“Tell me everything about you two, and perhaps if makes me happy, I’ll let you two live.”

“Oof, a bit better.” Kaiser sighed in relief, and looked up at Miseroy with hopeful expression: “You’re really going to let us live? Then I’ll tell you everything. My name is Kaiser, and I’m a rank-D bounty hunter. I was just about to bring this guy, Liola, who came from another dimension to the government shelter.”

“That’s it?” Miseroy said, displeased.

“And, and!” Seeing Miseroy’s discontent, Kaiser hurriedly added, but what else could he say? Kaiser couldn’t think of what else to say about himself even if he split his head open, so all he could do was betray the guy from another dimension: “Y-you shouldn’t underestimate Liola. You already saw what he’s capable of. He is the so-called best Assassin. So you better not cross him. Twenty times the gravity was nothing to him. The reason why he backed off was because he didn’t want to kill anyone, but if you make him mad, he might just kill you with a knife.”

Miseroy and Liola both pretended as if they didn’t hear anything. Miseroy raised his eyebrows and asked Liola: “From another dimension?”

Liola nodded lightly.

“Okay, you may go.” Miseroy gestured them to leave.

“What? You’re really going to let us go?” Kaiser’s jaw dropped: “I thought we were dead for sure.”

Miseroy blinked: “Under one condition.”

“What condition?” Kaiser was stunned, and asked: “Let me tell you first, if you’re going to make me a slave or tell me I can’t eat, then you might as well kill me.”

Miseroy showed an innocent expression: “No no, as long as you two apply to the Aklan College and get in to study there, I will let you go.”

“That’s it?” Kaiser asked, could not believe it.

“That’s it.” Miseroy put his hands on his side.

“Uh, strange things sure happen a lot nowadays.” Kaiser mumbled: “I can’t believe someone would threaten me with my life to go to school. I don’t know if this was something good or bad. But what am I going to do with my old school? It took a lot to get a scholarship to it.”

“Oh and by the way,” Miseroy blinked again, “Today is the last day to apply to Aklan Academy, and the application office is only open until five. It’s already three, so you still have two hours.”

“Whaaat!” Kaiser looked at his watch, and to be exactly, there is only an hour and fifty three minutes left, “Aklan Academy is downtown!”

“If you don’t get in,” Miseroy smiled, “Then at five o’clock sharp I will go kill you both. And don’t you dare think about escaping, I will find you wherever you are.”

“Five o’clock... Ah, the bus is here. Liola, let’s go!” Kaiser grabbed Liola by the collar, ran with him to the bus stop hundreds of meters away, and jumped on the bus at the very last second.

“That was really fast...” Miseroy almost drip in cold sweat.

“Why did you let them go?” A shadow suddenly said coldly.

“Because I don’t want us to all get hurt!” Miseroy showed an innocent smile.

“What do you mean...” The shadow began to reply unsatisfactorily, and then stopped.

“Did you finally notice?” Miseroy’s smile grew larger: “That quiet Assassin had already fired the warning shots.”

The shadow quietly looked at the ground in front of his feet, and saw there were two shuriken there. He didn’t realize them until now.

“He threw it when I was activating ‘Failed Lecture’, if I were to drop the ‘Skyfull Chaos Egg Falls’, then perhaps somebody’s heart would’ve been stabbed by shurikens by now.” Miseroy said, with an expression on his face as if he’s saying “you should thank me now”.

The shadow touched his own nose helplessly. He didn’t think he had been turn into a liability.

Miseroy acted as if he remembered something, and happily said “Right, I better go tell Babalis I found him two new interesting students.”

“I hope you didn’t find them too interesting that you...” The shadow said, his face becoming overshadowed with black line, turning speechless.
[T/N: The shadow person’s face was filled with black lines, kind of like how anime characters do when they are speechless or grief stricken.]

“How’s that possible? I only did it because I think they were talented, and I remember Babalis was short on people, so I would introduce them to him!” Miseroy said, full of seriousness.

“Is that so?” The shadow seemed to have raised his guard.

“That’s right!” Miseroy answered seriously, then turned around with a smile on his face again and said: “All right, I have to go and discuss this game with Babalis... No, I mean the plan to train these talented people!”

The former was the truth, wasn’t it? The shadow was speechless.

Friday, 9 August 2013

Ark: Volume 1 Chapter 2


This chapter is brought to you by AnmesicCat, Baddiez, Hikaru, Junny, Lastear, and Lei.




Mouse Hunter


“Whew, it’s a lot easier now that I’ve actually tried it.”

Hyun Woo let out a sigh of relief as he got out of the unit.

Once again, technological advances were to be admired. The scenery, the people, and monsters in the game looked very realistic. The battles were overflowing with a sense of realism.

Although he had started playing the game for the sake of the recruitment test, he thought he might get deeply immersed and beyond. However, Hyun Woo could not afford to get blindly obsessed with the game.

The game was great, but for him, it was more important to get by. He was in a different situation compared to the other applicants. It was a given he wouldn’t be able to feed himself and pay for his mother’s hospital fees if he didn’t work. He couldn’t just give up everything and enter this 1 in 200 war with his life on the line.

‘However, the game is just as important. I can’t quit work, but, I can put the private academy on hold for the moment. Then, I suppose I can play more if I sleep less.’

The clock indicated it was already 2 in the morning.

The Hyun Woo who skipped lunch in order to set up the unit, fetched himself a carton of milk and sat in front of the computer.

He had underestimated New World.

After he had actually tried the game, he realised it was quite different from any other games. As a result, he felt the need to look up more information during his spare time.

Sure enough, within a span of a month, the game was the top topic that came up and dozens of related sites had formed.

There were sites that shared information with users; while the information was insufficient, it was good to thoroughly look over them just in case.

Hyun Woo went onto the sites and looked through the information.

However, information could only be understood if one had some background knowledge. Since he didn’t know much, they were all Greek to him. At that moment, after clicking through the forums without much thought, the milk carton fell from Hyun Woo’s hand.

“W-What’s this?”

Hyun Woo moved his face right up to the monitor and read through the forum.

‘Whoa, n-no way... Is this for real?’

Hyun Woo forgot about his fatigue and immediately entered the unit.

***


Ark entered Harun together with a hazy light.

“Stat Window.”

When Ark hastily looked at the opened Stat Window, all colour drained from his face.

“My god! I-I was done in!”



Character Name


Ark


Race


Human


Fame


0


Level


1


Profession


None


Title


None



Health


100


Mana


100


Strength


1 (-14)


Agilitiy


1 (-14)


Stamina


1 (-14)


Wisdom


1 (-14)


Intelligence


1 (-14)


Luck


1 (-14)



All the stats turned red and had dropped down to 1.

The information Ark saw online turned out to be true.

On the forum, there was a tale of a newbie user who died without knowing much. According to it, his stats was deducted by 1 each time he died. And like Ark, he didn’t check the deducted stat and leveled up; permanently losing the stats in process. The figures inside the bracket indicated the deducted stat, and if one leveled up without recovering them, those stats could never be returned.

Ark was able to understand everything that had happened until now.

‘So this was why the people around me showed extreme reactions.’

They must have thought of me as someone who had given up on the game since I kept going at it like a nutcase and everytime I died, my stats got hacked away.

Damn it, so that’s why Bulma said she was so sorry.

He felt like an erupting volcano about to explode.

Ark having experience playing many games, he knew firsthand the importance of stats.

Everytime you level up in New World you are given 10 points.

This means at level 10 you should have 100 points. However Ark had already lost 84. In other words, this means at level 10 he would essentially be lower than a level 2. This was a huge difference.

No, the bad side aside, he wouldn’t be able to do anything at this rate.

Before logging off, Ark was panting while holding a dagger, but he wasn’t tired. He had 1 strength so the dagger was heavy, and also one agility, so his movement were sluggish.

‘From the beginning that bastard Andel knew all about it. Bulma knew too. They took advantage of me in order to hunt safely. All this for a handful of crappy items.’

For 84 stat points, he got a bunch of wolf leather, meat, and a rusty sword.

Ark clenched and grinded his teeth while searching for them. However, they must’ve fled the village, or cut off all means of communication as he wasn’t able to find them anywhere. Then again, there wasn’t anything that he could do even if he caught them.

With these stats, he could not exact revenge, and they could not return his lost stats anyway. In the end, Ark sank down to the ground with a hollow expression.

Everything in front of his eyes became dark.

‘Damn it, to think that such system would exist.’

The stat couldn’t fall below 1, so he really had a body that had nothing to lose now.

His anger subsided a little and his guilt rose. No matter how hurried he’d felt, he should have looked through the information first. Even 1 hour, no, 30 minutes of skimming through a forum would have prevented such a mistake. It was his fault for thinking that this game would be no different from other games.

Ark realized how much of a difference one small piece of information could make. No, but before that, the disappointment on himself surfaced.

‘What a stupid bastard I was! Why didn’t I notice the reason Bulma was being so kind? It may just be a game, but in the end those guys are only human. There’s no reason for them to be so nice to a useless guy like me!’

If this was reality, he definitely would never have made that mistake.

‘Andel and Bulma! You bastards picked on the wrong person. I’ll make you regret it someday!’

Life is unfair beyond imagination. Survival would be impossible if one underestimated it.

If there was one thing Ark had learned while working hard in real life, that would be it.

Sometimes, after working a part-time job for over a month, he didn’t receive his pay.

The manager had taken Ark for an easy mark because he was just a student. So Ark didn’t go to school for a week and clung to the manager until he finally got his money. He couldn’t give up because his life was on the line.

Ark had suffered similar situations for the past few years. He couldn’t fall apart here.
He had to get stronger somehow and get his revenge on those bastards! But for now there were more urgent matters.
One hour later, Ark went and found Hansen again.

“Give me a job.”

“Hmm? If it isn’t the customer who came in a while ago. Didn’t you say you were going outside to hunt?”

“I’m about to cry, okay? Don’t ask and please give me a job.”

Ark said as he let out a deep sigh.

He had spent an hour digging through the Internet after what had happened.

Perhaps because there were almost no idiots who had made the same mistake as Ark, there was barely any information. Still, Ark determinedly searched through the Internet.

He thought there might be a way to restore his stats if the system deduct stats with each death.

If it was impossible to restore the stats, then there’d be no reason to put the lost stat numbers in parentheses.

Thankfully, he’d was able to find information about that part a little while ago.

The way was rather simple. If you hunted a lot, the lost stats would be naturally restored. But there was also a problem here. If the lost stats were not completely restored and the user leveled up in that state, then those stats would be gone forever. Hence, he had to recover all of his 84 stat points before leveling up to level 2.

Mice naturally came to Ark’s mind.

Each mouse gave 1 EXP. However, leveling up by hunting mice alone would be an impossible feat. Since many mice had to be killed in order to level up, it might be possible for him to restore many stats.

‘Although I would much rather make a new character...’

In New World, only one character was allowed per account.

Sink or swim—he had to suck it up and continue playing with his current character.. Although he was already way behind the other applicants even at the start, there was no other way.

“Okay, there aren’t a lot of people who are willing to work in this village, so there’s plenty of work I can give you. Go right now to the smithy. The number of mice these days has increased there as well.”

Ark ran right to the smithy. Then, before the blacksmith could even open his mouth, he jumped into the cellar. The situation was no better than before. At least all of his stats had been at 15 before. Now they were at a measly 1. He’d be no better than a ninety year old grandpa holding a dagger. If his Health Points had been reduced too, he’d probably have gone mad.

‘It’s fine. Let’s not think about it anymore. It’s no use coming this far and regretting it. Like when I was up against wolves, the only way is to carefully take the mice on one by one...’

His attitude was different than before.

There was nowhere to run. If he couldn’t even kill a mouse, then he should give up on the game. Ark gave it everything that he had as he battled a single mouse. In other words, he had to give it his all to kill a single mouse. As a result, he had to investigate into a more efficient way to hunt.

While doing this, he realised he could perceive many points.

‘The speed and strength with which I can swing the dagger has definitely decreased. But the fighting experience I gained while hunting wild dogs and wolves is there to some degree. Even though it takes longer to hunt, it actually feels easier than before. That means...”

It meant combat wasn’t based on the attack and defense stats.

Similar to reality, by utilizing fighting experience, the situation could be changed at any time. It was difficult for a level one user to defeat a player who is level ten, but with a level 4 or 5, by following fighting experience, it was possible.

From then on, Ark observed the movements of the mice. He fought while learning how to move in each situation and when to hit the mouse to deal a little more damage. He went through similar battles such as this several times and grasp the techniques of the mice.

‘Okay, it’s not going to work if I just randomly swing the dagger. The mouse is using its head to move. So, I should learn its movements as if I’m facing a real mouse.’

Ark dealt with all of the mice in the smithy’s cellar.

Even so, there weren’t any changes to his stats yet.

“Even though I’ve killed thirty of them.... Is it truly possible to recover my lost stats like this?”

Although he had his worries, he had no other choice.

Even if he were to go outside the village, it would be difficult to deal with one rabbit. There was likely no one who would allow him to squeeze into a party.

If he wasn’t able to restore his stats with the mice, the game would end then and there.

‘I gotta believe they’ll be restored. They’ll be recovered for sure.’

Ark received his ten pieces of wheat bread from the smith and received another request. This time, it was a request about the mice in the cellar of the fancy goods shop. In an hour and a half, he was able to finish three requests.


    - Thanks to a lot of experience, the Strength and Agility that was lost to a huge blow has been found again. Strength up by 1. Agility has been restored by 1.

The message that he longed for finally appeared. He felt happiness, but at the same time, he felt at a loss as to what he should do.

An hour and a half. He was only able to recover 2 points after an hour and a half of nonstop mice hunting. How many mice did he have to kill to recover the remaining 82 points?

‘But I’ll get them back no matter what it takes. I can’t just start like this, with these stupid penalties.’

Ark clenched his teeth.

***


Hyun Woo rubbed his bloodshot eyes and headed to work.

He had been able to regain only 6 points from staying up the entire night.

While he was lucky there was a way to restore his stats, thinking about the remaining 78 points he started to feel faint.

‘Should I just give up on my stats and raise my level instead?’

It would cross his mind from time to time, but Hyun Woo would immediately shake his head.

Every time you increased by one level 10 stats would be granted. That fact didn’t change whether he was a level 50 or a 100. Essentially, that meant that the value of stats rose with each level.

Leveling up from 1 to 10 to get the stats would probably be faster than hunting mice, but going from level 100 to 110 would take so much more effort than right now. When he took that point into account, he had no other choice but to go through this grueling process.

‘Yeah, killing mice is the only way to restore my stats with the minimal risk. There are other things I can learn while killing mice.’

Hyun Woo has always lived with a positive attitude.

The reason why he didn’t quit computer prep school, even though he didn’t have the money to buy a single bowl of black bean noodles (jjajangmyun), was thanks to his positive mindset. He also had a great amount of patience.
[T/N: A bowl of black bean noodles costs around 5 dollars.]

Truthfully, the harsh training in reality helped him to learn a lot.

In other games, victory was split into the attack and defense stats. There was no room for any other elements. However, in New World, a real sense of fighting and experience played a major role.

The user’s real strength and agility were not applied, but experience and reflex speed counted for a lot.

That is, if someone was attacked ten times with 10 points of agility, they could generally evade once. On the other hand, if they handled the situation with quick judgement, they’d be able to evade two or three out of ten times.

‘This is the same concept for when I’m attacking.’

By following the enemy’s movements, he maintained an advantageous distance.

It was a concept drilled into him over and over again when he learned Taekwondo a long time ago.

Of course, with an advantageous position, it was easier to avoid or counter-attack your opponent.

In New World, the rules of reality were directly applied.

It wasn’t a game where you could just recklessly strike once and get hit once.

It was a big enough benefit to know that.

Hyun Woo began to exercise in his spare time from that day on.

Exercise was the best way to hone his reflexes.

The only exercise Hyun Woo could without spending any money was the Taekwondo he learned in elementary and middle school.

When he went into high school, he stopped because of examinations, but he still had the skills of a third-dan. He didn’t remember everything he had learned, but it was still enough to work out by himself.

As he was cleaning out the mart cellar, he moved his body in the spare moments.

Afterward, he loosened his stiff body, stretched his legs, and did image training of fighting a bloody struggle with the mice. If he had a new thought, he adapted it in-game against the mice.

The days passed like this and he regained 30 stat points.

Even though he still had 50 points less than he’d had from the beginning, now he could fight the mice with his eyes closed.

There were approximately twenty to thirty mice to face with each quest he received, and now it didn’t even take him 10 minutes to clean them up. Of course, the speed at which he received the quests increased as well.

‘My thought was right after all. Ark gets stronger the more I exercise.’

Afterwards, Hyun Woo tried using his Taekwondo techniques in New World.

At first, there were a lot of awkward moments, but as he fought the mice he became more accustomed to them. And after a week, he could face two or three mice at once without the use of the dagger.

Thanks to that, he was able to save on the dagger’s repair costs.

What a truly deep and complex game!

He was in the worst situation, but Hyun Woo was getting more and more fascinated with New World.

***


‘Damn it, to think that I would actually die on purpose.’

Ark grumbled to himself in his faraway mind.

A swarm of mice was pounding on him like crazy.

On the tenth day after starting to hunt mice, Ark discovered yet another problem.

Mice only gave 1 EXP. However, those points accumulated and reached 99%. Had the situation been different, he would be grinning from ear to ear, but Ark’s expression was grim.

There was no way to find the stats he hadn’t regained yet if he leveled up like this.

Ark was agonized about it, but he decided to pull the trigger.

It was a way in which he would die on purpose and cut his experience. Every time he died, his experience was cut by 30% and his stats by 6 points. And by killing mice he gained 3% experience per 1 stat point. Overall, by dying once and killing mice to restore his stats, he was able to earn an extra 4 points.

‘I won’t lose out on a single point like this!’

He already invested 10 days into regaining his stats. Thus, it was ridiculous for him to start from a state of disadvantage after all that work. No, he couldn’t accept that to happen. Ark steeled his resolve and let the mice hit him to death.

Through repetitive mice hunting, he was finally able to regain 70 points in ten days.

Even so, he wasn’t even a little happy.

‘Even if I regain all of my points, I’ll just end up where I started from. Damn it, just you wait and see! I will never forgive those bastards Andel and Bulma, who are caused all this suffering!’

Ark, who was grinding his teeth, started to show a mad glint in his eyes.

Thanks to his wish for vengeance against Andel and Bulma, he was able to to stick to the arduous work of restoring his stats.

Around that time, he was able to obtain new knowledge from the game.


    You have obtained a New Skill. Combat Skill (Beginner, Passive): Art of fighting utilising your fists and feet. Fighting without equipping a weapon will not demonstrate your strength, but your evasion and accuracy will become higher. These additional benefits can be had even when using weapons. Bare-handed striking power increased by 10%, accuracy up 3%, evasion up 3%.

‘Just like ‘Undying Will’, I see that if you do one thing for long enough, the skills you need will naturally be made.’

Though they called themselves information sites, they didn’t even have simple information like this. If anything, rather than proper information, there were baseless rumors that just caused confusion among the inexperienced players. Half of it was done as a joke, and the other half was meant to protect their advantageous positions. Those rumours fanned the distrust in Ark’s human form.

‘You never know, this could be a scheme unfolded by the other applicants. Those cheap bastards, it’s no good to believe the information sites too much anyways. No, you can’t even trust the other users. You have to find and learn everything by yourself.’

After the appearance of the skill, he was able to evade the mice’s attacks more when he fought with his bare hands, and it became much more comfortable to move his body. Since he gained the bonuses even when using weapons, it was an absolutely necessary skill.

Ark was becoming a famous specialty in Harun.

It was a given that people would be interested in the Ark who started killing only mice like crazy as soon as he entered the game. Furthermore, sometimes he would even let himself die on purpose. Because there was no way they could understand his actions, people started thinking that he had gone slightly bad in the head.

They must’ve been really curious, but none of them mustered up the courage to approach Ark to ask him. They just mumbled amongst themselves.

“Just what is he trying to do by killing mice which doesn’t give much experience or money?”

“There’s no way he’s trying to level up by catching mice, right?”

“Sure enough, if he’s killed many, he should have already gone up at least 3 levels.”

“But sometimes he dies, too.”

“It’s probably that he didn’t know better in the beginning and died and is doing this to regain his stats.”

Somebody’s words caught people’s attention.

“There’s a way to restore lost stats?”

There were still more people who didn’t know than those who did.

“Yes, in the case of high levels, it takes such a long time to level up so most people regain their stats by the time they level up. But at low levels, leveling up is fast so if you hunt outside, it’s easy to pass to the next level without regaining the stats. That’s why he’s only catching mice.”

“But that person has already been catching them for more than ten days. Just how many did he lose....”

“You’re right. Usually after that much one would just give up. He’s awfully determined.”

However, their talk did not reach Ark’s ears.

There was no reason to listen to other people because he had a definite goal. And now simply clearing the mice had another meaning other than regaining stats. The fighting senses he had familiarized his body with so far was invaluable if only for the experience.

“Ah ah, how long has it been since I received such warm help, now I can die without regrets.”

“Do not say such weak things. You have to live long and healthy.”

As Ark held the grandma’s hand tightly and said that, the information window appeared.


    You have learned a new skill. Nursing (Beginner, Active): You can give patients hope by restoring their vigor and courage. You give the patient an increase of 20% in vigor and courage by using this. Mana use: 10

When Ark had completed the mouse-catching quest hundreds of times. Hansen sometimes gave him other quests, but they weren’t impressive enough to make his ears perk up.

"You know granny Johansson, right? That granny might die soon. They say they need to find someone to take care of her for a day. If it's you, I can trust and leave her to you."

“The restaurant is crowded these days, so they need some helping hand. If it’s you, then I can entrust you with the job.”

For the most part the jobs were small like this. Honestly, he wanted to pass on them, but Hansen only gave quests one at a time.

Whether he liked it or not, in order to receive the mouse catching quests, he had to complete those job quests as well. However, it was not always a bad thing.

For one, these quests had better pay. The pay was as much as one silver.

The repair cost for the rusted sword and leather clothes was 30 copper, and wheat bread cost 5 copper.

To Ark, 1 silver was not a small sum.

On top of that, he learned skills as well.

Well, they were insignificant skills he may or may not have a use for, but there was nothing wrong about expanding his skills. He was at the level where he could catch mice while taking breaks.

Thanks to the quests, his intimacy with the NPCs of Harun rose a lot.

Whenever he crossed the streets, NPCs started conversations with him, and the price of wheat bread and repair fees dropped by an enormous amount.

“S-Sorry to trouble you, but could you buy 100 pieces of wheat bread from me?”

"I am looking to repair a weapon..."

In the case of long swords, the repair cost exceeded a silver piece.

But when Ark gave them his sword, he only paid 70 copper pieces to get it repaired.

In this valley of beginners, 30 copper was a big sum. So quick, observant users did business with the merchants through Ark. Of course, Ark didn't offer this service for free.

The price was 20% of the trade. This was Ark's proposal.

"Instead of one silver, you know that there is a 20 copper service fee?"
"Can't I give it to you next time? I only have 10 coppers."

"No. Come next time."
"You're too much. It's only 10 coppers."

"If it's stingy, then sir, raise your reputation in Harun village. If you do about one hundred mice-catching quests, then the price should go down some. Well, your level won’t rise though."

"I'lI definitely pay you back next time."
"I only believe in money."
"... Here's the money."

At the sight of the offered 10 coppers, whose existence had been denied again and again, Ark snorted.

For the second time, he decided not to trust users.

On the day when Ark first came into New World and acted thoughtlessly, two thousand other applicants started the game at around the same time.

They were all his rivals. There was no doubt that there had been competitors in Harun.

‘There’s a chance Andel and Bulma were candidates. No, I don’t know about Bulma, but Andel definitely is one.’

Andel had gotten Ark into this mess. If Andel had figured out that Ark was an applicant, then that was the definite choice.The decisive and easiest way to stand on top of all the competition is to push off your opponents.

And most applicants probably had the same thoughts.

'I, too, will now do the same without hesitation if given the chance.'

In the end, the game was like reality, a struggle for existence. He’d paid a price to realise his ignorance, but it was a relief that he’d come to know it sooner than later.

Because he wouldn’t make the same mistake again.

He’d rather believe the NPCs than the competing users.

There wasn’t even a need to look at the situation.

After having saved money fiercely, somewhere along the line, he had saved up a large sum of 5 gold in his bag.

There wasn’t a user who had spent half a month in the village of Harun. It was the first time a user in Harun had saved 5 gold pieces. Because he’d defeated mice with constant perseverance, he had only 1 point left to restore. The problem was that his experience was at 99%...

‘Do I have to die one more time?’

Now, dying wasn’t even a big deal.

Ark had no intention of giving up on even one point.

In order to die yet another time, he went looking for Hansen to receive a quest

“I’ve completed the previous quest you gave me. Please give me another job.”

But Hansen’s response was strange.

Hansen looked over Ark with a peculiarly warm light in in his eyes and said the following words.

“There is no longer any work to give you in this town.”
“What?”

Ark was shocked.

There were no commissions? Doesn’t this mean there wasn’t a way to restore the remaining stat?

Just like in the past, he was still level 1. But because of his excessive fighting experience, he was confident he could knock out a Wild Dog.

But one death meant experience was cut by 30%. Because Wild Dogs gave a lot of experience, 30% exp would fill up before he could earn 6 points. In the end, it meant that even if he died fighting the Wild Dogs, he’d still lose out on points.

‘I never thought these quests had a limit line.’

Even if you looked in the forums, there wasn’t anything about the limit of requests in beginning villages. Although he hadn’t counted, Ark had done over three hundred quests so far. Ark had also thought there were unlimited quests. To suddenly say there were no quests...

‘Do I have to end it here and start with 1 point missing?’

It was similar to having something stick out like a sore thumb. If there were a lot of points missing, then he would simply overlook and ignore it. However, giving up with a single point missing didn’t sit right with him.

At that moment, Hansen suddenly grasped Ark’s hand and opened his mouth.

“Until now, I have seen a great amount of people in this place, but there has never been anyone who gave as much as you have for the village. I am touched.”

‘Well, that’s pretty obvious. Are you nuts? Who would repeat these types of quests over 300 times?’

Ark was enraged but put a tight clamp on his anger and awkwardly tried to laugh.

“This place is like my home. If it’s something I can do, of course I have to help out. It hurts my heart that there isn’t anything else I can help with.”

His intimacy with Hansen was already at its maximum. Though there wasn’t anything that would come of it, there was no need to cut down the intimacy he’d raised.

This was something he’d felt so far while playing New World. The NPCs talked and acted like real people. It was rumoured, each and every one of the NPCs globally could think independently like real people.

It was a given that they worked in the day and slept at night. There were even times when they caught sick and didn’t open shop.

There were cases of them interacting with users and deciding the user needed to learn to speak more politely, which caused the intimacy to drop and their prices to rise.

“Don’t you think there might be some other kind of job? I want to help so badly I’m going crazy.”

“No, this is plenty now. You didn’t look over anyone with contempt and worked without rest for this frontier village. You even went as far as to have several near-death experiences. I know it all. You are already a hero in this village. And I, with the feeling that I have nurtured you, venture to call you this. You are a Mouse Hunter!”

Suddenly, as cheerful music flowed forth, the information window appeared.


    You have received Harun Village’s Elder Hansen’s title of Mouse Hunter. You are recognized as a specialist at dealing with mice. When facing mice your attack power increases by 30%. When facing mice the chance of critical hits rises by 20%. The chance of evading mouse attacks rises by 20%. *The received title increases all stats by a bonus of 1. *Fame increases by 50.

 


    You have learned a new skill. Spirit of the Cat (Beginner, Active): A cat’s roar which, in the eyes of mice, will cause them to tremble in terror. 30 second paralysis. Attack and defense (Fighting Morale) decreases by 20% (Only applies to mice). Mana consumption: 80

In a moment Ark's downcast face immediately brightened.

The ability to deal harder blows to mice made him happy, if nothing else. The important thing was the all stats +1! He had received an unimagined bonus. At the same time, he must have received a few experience points because the accumulated 99% experience had disappeared and gained a level.

Ark hastily opened his status window and confirmed it. Every stat was fixed at 16, and only his intelligence stayed at 15. In the corner, he saw the sparkling 10 points he’d won through leveling up.

'This kind of windfall...!'

Ark was smiling from ear to ear.

Now, Ark was no longer behind a stat point, and he was 5 points ahead of other people. This was an enormously difficult achievement.

Until now, there were almost no known ways to raise stats besides leveling up.

There were rumours which said if you did some layered quests or were bestowed with a title, stats would increase. However, there was no detailed information available, but Ark, who was still level 1 and in the beginner town, had gained a bonus of 6 points.

‘Repeating the mice hunting quests 300 times paid off!’

He felt a tingly sense of delight. At the same time his hardships immediately melted away. Ark left the information window up for the moment and wondered.

He was worried about where to distribute the newly attained stats. Because he didn’t yet know what his profession was going to be, he had to be careful with the distribution. In the end, Ark invested all the points in agility, as he’d previously planned.

Agility was, for the most part, a stat most professions needed. As it was a good thing that beginners invest all their points in agility, Ark came to a conclusion.

'There, now I should be able to leisurely start hunting Wild Dogs.'

Ark was just about to turn his body away, while wearing a satisfied smile.

“But hey, don’t you perhaps have any thoughts of trying a new job?”

“What? Didn’t you say there wasn’t any work?”

“No, well, it’s not village work, but there’s a job that bothers me a little...”

Ark turned around with an interested expression.

Until now, he hadn’t heard about anyone receiving a quest from Hansen besides the village ones. Nonetheless, after completing over three hundred mice assassination quests, Ark had also received only village quests. However, for the first time, he had received a different commission from Hansen.

‘Is it a quest available only after you’ve received the Mouse Hunter title?’

So to speak, it was the first. It was a given he was interested. Having already received a title and bonus stats, he was so happy he could hardly contain it. Ark quickly replied to Hansen.

“If it’s Grandpa’s request, I’ll do any work no matter what it is.”

“Thank you. But to be honest, even I can’t make a judgement on what this opportunity is. I’m not sure how dangerous it will be either. This was the reason why I couldn’t bring it up until now. Anyway, if you are willing to do it, look for the bar owner, Kraydon, and ask for the details.”


    The Bar Owner Kraydon’s Worries The bar owner Kraydon has been agonizing over a new worry for several days. Meet him and listen to his situation. Level of Difficulty: —

“I will go look for him right away.”

Ark bowed and set off for the bar.

“Oh, Ark. As expected, it’s you who came.”

Kraydon greeted him with a welcoming voice.

Ark was probably the first user he’d called by name.

“Yes. Hi, how are you? So, I heard there’s some kind of problem?”

“Indeed. No, no there isn’t. To be honest, it’s not enough to call it a problem... Over the past few days I’ve been hearing some strange talk.”

“Strange talk?”

“As you know, mice have continued to appear no matter how many you’ve killed recently. You should know how much I suffered because of that, right?”

‘I’m the one who suffered. While receiving just 10 pieces of bread.’

Ark had a fit of anger, but on the surface he laughed naively and nodded his head.

“I know. But isn’t it okay these days?”

“It’s a little quieter. However, only a few days ago, I heard some strange talk from some guests. You know the Harilal mountain in this area, right? While crossing that mountain, they discovered a strange cave. Do you know what they said was inside the cave? The vile mice. They said a really unbelievable number of mice were living there.”

“Then has that swarm of mice been coming to the village from that cave?”

“There’s a high possibility that’s the case. But if tourists’ words were true, we should take action.”

Kraydon scratched his beard and gave Ark a look.

It was a look that hoped Ark would look into the details.

“Is it fine if I investigate that cave?”

“That’s right. If it’s the one who received the title of Mouse Hunter, I can entrust it to you.”

This guy can spread rumours throughout town quickly.

“Ok, I’ll take a look at once.”

Ark accepted without much thought. Then, his request window changed to ‘Unknown Cave Exploration.’ The difficulty level rose from ‘—’ to ‘G’ but he didn’t pay much attention to it. In the information he’d looked up, G difficulty quests were about the level of catching Wild Dogs.

“I’m thankful. Since I’ve found out the approximate area, I’ll mark it on your map.”

After Kraydon had finished what he was saying, the map window spread out.

The enormously large map was mostly black, and only the areas surrounding Harun were lit up. In the inner part of the Harilal mountain chain surrounding the village, there was a blinking light. As expected, it was an area that he’d never seen even once in the information sites.

So to speak, it was a hidden dungeon!

It was common knowledge that dungeons were treasure houses for items.

Although because it was a G difficulty quest in a beginning village he could not hope for an impressive item, for Ark who was equipping a rusted sword, even a single broken shield would be a big treasure.

Above all, discovering a dungeon no one else knew about held an impressive sense of achievement.

Ark then left the bar in a hurry to prepare for his journey.

‘I guess I should organize these now.’

There were a lot of odds and ends filling up his bag.

The 3 leathers and meat he’d gained while catching wolves and the 10 wheat breads he’d gained each time he completed one of three hundred mice-killing quests.

At first, he had eaten them as he’d received them, but after he started killing mice with ease the wheat breads accumulated. It was to the point that he would eat 1~2 of them when his satiety dropped all the way to the bottom.

And so after a while he had accumulated over 1000 wheat breads.

Even though they were stored by 100 pieces each, there wasn’t any room for other items.

‘I’ll leave 100 pieces securely in my bag and let’s sell the rest.’

Ark went to the General Merchandise store and sold his wheat bread. Originally the wheat bread was a product that couldn’t be sold once it was bought.

But thanks to his maximum intimacy, there was no impossibility for Ark. Each wheat bread was worth 1 copper piece.

Of course, if he’d sold them to users, he’d receive 2 copper pieces, but he couldn’t not afford to waste time for just a copper piece difference. For Ark, who only had a limited time to play the game, time was of the essence.

Selling 2000 wheat breads yielded 20 silvers.

Ark used that money to repair his equipment and left for the Harilal mountains.

Thursday, 8 August 2013

LMS: Volume 14 Chapter 6


Continent’s Dreams


This chapter is brought to you by AnmesicCat, BDark, Haikai, Hikaru, Lastear, Lei, MangaExpert. Special thanks to Junnynam. Please visit Imoutolicious and read novels he translates.

We would like to announce our new recruits/helpers!

First up, Lei. She translates really quickly and Moonlight Sculptor is her 'first love'. She helps us translate various novels. She is quirky and very affectionate towards Alpacas.

Secondly, Lucid. He helps us translates. He was captured by Hikaru's charm and had no choice but to join.

Third, Lastear. Although not very new, we haven't introduce him. He is our new proofreader. So if there's something you don't understand with a sentence, he's the man to be blamed *watches the translation staff walking away*

Last but definitely not the least, Junny. He will be helping us check the translations so you will receive 'high quality' and accurate translations.



Unicorn.

It may seem like a name of a monster or a mythical beast, but when most people hear the word, they recall the Unicorn Corporation.

The sole company who developed and managed Royal Road!

It was not an overstatement to say they are raking in all the money in the world with the new world they created. The company owns enormous industrial clusters based on capsules and mini computers.

Even after the operating cost for Royal Road is deducted, their monthly profit is astronomical.

Apart from these, Unicorn's influence spread to cutting edge communication networks, cartoon character business, image and video culture, tourism, leisure industries and much more.

The company who developed the new world created a rippled effect throughout the world, quickly expanding Unicorn Corporation.

The ever important Royal Road.

Royal Road, which almost all of Unicorn’s business were based on, focused mostly on maintenance and getting new users.

It was in the middle of a very important meeting between Unicorn’s core leaders.

Jang Yoon Soo, the head of the long-term marketing strategy division, was conducting the meeting.

“Department Head Kim, if you want a smooth meeting, we need you to give us some information. What is the growth rate of our current users?”

Department Head Kim Han Seo flipped through the data, produced a handkerchief, and wiped the sweat off of his forehead. With a sharp gaze, he stared at all of the members of the meeting.

“Yes, I am the director in charge of Versailles’ Goddess.”

Versailles’ Goddess.

The name of the AI who manages the Versailles continent.

Kim Han Seo had gathered 17 brilliant scientists who worked together with him to develop it.

The AI who handled the creation of the Versailles continent and everything else in it.

The real creator of Royal Road and the absolute ruler!

Now it could run fine on its own and it was simply a matter of taking a break and watching the AI run the continent. The user reports by Goddess of Versailles could only be seen via Kim Han Seo’s system management department.

“You probably already know this but... What I am about to reveal to you all is highly confidential company data, and in under no circumstances to be leaked to the general public.”

“Family members included. Therefore you can’t speak of this even to coworkers and subordinates. From this point on, you must keep quiet.”

The members of the meeting had already sworn to to secrecy as they came in.

Everyone who was present in the meeting gently nodded their heads.

The topics to be discussed were so important, it could radically change the Versailles continent. These people were not foolish to be unable to recognize the chaos such information would cause if it were to be leaked.

"Then I will begin. The majority of the top players are slightly below level 430."

"There are exactly 890 players. It is more or less below our expectations."

The game, Royal Road, is targeted towards players worldwide, not just Korea.

The growth the game was favourable; however, the majority of players were from Korea.

In every game, there were users who played to see the end.

Because of the involvement of such players, the history of the Versailles Continent had been altered several times.

The Public Relations department and Operations department could not afford to not consider the tendencies of such users.

The deputy of Foreign policy, Soo In Hae, who was in attendance, raised her hand.

“I have a question. What level have users reached in countries outside of Korea, namely Japan, America, and China?”

“They are still relatively low. When Royal Road was in its infant stage, they didn’t have much access to the game, and they are growing around the edges of the islands and in the cities.”

America and China were furious about Royal Road. They just could not believe Unicorn Corporation had managed to create a virtual reality.

Even though Unicorn’s theory was meticulous and they had proven the reality of virtual reality, the American and Chinese press focused only on the negative aspects.



- The first true virtual reality. Its still too early.



Korea’s enterprise, an extremely unlikely announcement.

Even Korean scientists think it a statement without any worth.

Science is not a fraud.

Anyone in the world could play Royal Road, but users from other countries joined late, giving Koreans a good head start.

There were many users from other countries, but because they joined much later, they were quite far behind. These users were often in smaller countries and islands in the middle of the continent, but because of the automatic translation program, their respective countries were often not revealed.

Everyone spoke the same language in Royal Road, so a user’s country of origin had no real meaning.

The Executive Director of Management, Son Il Jang chuckled.

“That’s a relief. There is not even the slightest chance an Emperor will rise from a user in a foreign country.”

“However you look at it, it seems to be the case.”

A smile played on Jang Yoon Soo’s lips.

Royal Road.

The Emperor of the Versailles continent would receive 10% of a month’s profit as a prize.

It was the ultimate goal of the entire game, and the person who achieve the dream of becoming Emperor would receive incredible privileges.

The press focused solely on this immense prize money.

However, there was another unique reward besides the money.

5% of Unicorn’s shares.

Scientists and researchers worked on the project, along with existing shareholders opposed to the idea. The Systems and Operations strategy department, however, pushed the issue and succeeded in making it the reward.

The one who becomes Emperor was bound to wield incredible power. He would be able to destroy or create anything at will.

Even the company who created an innovative economic system based on Versailles, Unicorn, would not be safe from the Emperor’s hands.

Even the Goddess of Versailles would be unable to lawfully lay hands on the ruler.

The emperor of the virtual reality world in which a multitude of users lived.

It was a secret prize which was immeasurably larger than the reward the public knew of.

***


A conference was held in the early morning concerning Royal Road’s new Public Relations strategy, support for new technologies, and business partners.

Nevertheless, the members of the meeting did not discussed Bard Ray, other high leveled players, or guild leaders. Instead, they focused earnestly on various other important topics.

“Strategist Yoon Young Sil will elaborate. Recently, NPCs from the Kingdom of the Horde have been popular for their cute appearances. I’ve sent documents about character analysis. Did you get a chance to look at them?”

“Yes. We are rushing the production of popular NPCs.”

“More and more users are utilizing the trochet carriage for their vacations. They’re becoming increasingly renowned and well-regarded because of its price, speed, and safety. What do you all think about installing them on resorts?”

“Transportation in the resorts? Whether for mountain climbing, skiing, or golfing, I think it would work out pretty well. I will consider it.”

It was a meeting with light ideas.

The heads of each department ate sandwiches whilst conversing amongst themselves.

As soon as breakfast ended, the atmosphere around supervisor Jang Yoon Soo changed.

“Well.... the external balance of power on Royal Road needs to be examined.”

Department Head Son Il Jang stood up and turned on the screen in the middle of the room.

The territory of each Guild, castle and town were displayed on the map.

“The power in Versailles is split up something like this: Central has 66%, the East 10%, West 8%, South 13%, and North 3%.”

Jang Yoon Soo pointed at flags on the screen which were placed in various places.

“The East is unexpectedly big. There’s a guild occupying the village whose members are impressively high in level.”

“Based on the new users, the kingdoms beyond the plains of despair are blooming, but the Orcs are responsible for the noticeable growth.”

It was a grand sight—races merging together with the emergence of the Orcs, changing the balance of power.

“From the traditional kingdom in the South, there are those who enjoy adventuring using their own strength; in the West, there are only a few players, but, due to the escalating conflicts stemmed from the scarce resources, strong warriors are being born. At this time, the place needs to be focused is the center of the continent.”

Department Head Son Il Jang gestured toward the center of the Versailles continent.

The Kallamore Kingdom and Haven Kingdom were traditionally the powerhouse nations concentrated in the central continent.

“Based on their political economy, the area was perceived to be capable of development. However, the area accumulated overwhelming growth, incomparable with other regions. We must watch out for approximately 149 users.”

Jang Yoon Soo asked in a light tone.

“Yes, how did you decide on those users needed attention?”
“It was determined by the users’ influence and player levels.”
“Then that group must contain a lot of Guild leaders, Nobles and Lords.”

Even supervisor Jang Yoon Soo did not receive materials prior to the conference. Of course, when leaving the conference room research materials could not be taken out. So materials would be distributed at the meeting upon request.

“That’s how it is. Although there are some users who stand out even while playing solo, but in general, their influence is limited. First, take a look at the users in the most prestigious guilds of the continent.”

The members of the meeting took a look at the data of the 149 aforementioned users.Only the rustling of paper could be heard in the silent meeting room.

This information is different from the info spread by the game network. Its been gathered by the Strategy and Systems operation departments, so its highly reliable.

If one was to take a look at the documents, he would see the diversity in both nationalities and genders.

If one particular guild was notably more powerful than the rest, the 5 or 6 guilds which ranked right below the guild will form an alliance against it. In some cases, 10 or more similar sized guilds fought in a single country.

Because of the large number of users in the Versailles continent, this was only natural.

Whenever the balance gets disrupted, the weaker gets absorbed as the winner becomes a little stronger, but when it happens, the stronger side makes more enemies.

There were great wars which would upset such a tenuous balance, but there has yet to be a war so large, the continent itself would be forever changed.

The chief of the company's development department, Ha Yun-Ji, looked doubtful as she read the file and spoke.

“The power of Bard Ray and the Hermes guild seems to be far higher than I expected. What are you basing this on?”

“You’ve asked a very good question.”

All eyes slowly concentrated towards Son Il Jang.

The meeting, itself, had to be treated with the utmost secrecy. Until now, comprehensive ranking reports of all of the users’ activities, like brass trading or quest progression, was shared publicly, even with Unicorn Corporation. However, this special report was only available for a few important, special people to review.

In the report, it is a fact the military, financial, and the productive prowess of the Hermes Guild, as well as their territory and skills, were an overwhelming 5 times greater than the other prestigious guilds of the Haven Kingdom was revealed.

“Bard Ray is an amazing user. Ever since the beginning of the launch of Royal Road, he has been the best, and has established the Hermes Guild. There was a time he fell behind while founding and managing the guild, but he quickly ascended back to the top position. This is probably the first time all of you have been aware of Bard Ray’s level being 447.”

Everyone in the conference room dejectedly nodded their heads.

Bard Ray’s level was a matter of course. But they did not know there were this many 400 level users.

The broadcasting stations and users estimated Bard Ray’s level to be around 410.

However, the truth was he had passed his estimated level, and so had his competitors. While they were not at Bard Ray’s level, it was a disparity which normal users would anguish.

Even the people in the conference room were currently quite shocked at what they saw in the report.

“The users at the apex are quite amazing. Their individual power, not just their levels, but their usage of skills, actual battle senses and their practical ability were way above the grasp of the average user.

The reason the videos of the so-called rankers gained popularity was because they were special. The reason why, during the Joseon era, the warriors emulated those of the Goryeo era was due to their fast and efficient battle system.

In anticipation of the difference in individual skills, they used a new method of hunting monsters.

The sight of them dungeoning or storming a monster fortress was akin to watching a really well-made fantasy action movie.

There was an assassin user who stormed an infamous monster fortress in the Baimar Kingdom alone, and took more than ten lives every night.

After making the monsters feel fear, the user destroyed the castle, and raised his own flag from the highest point in the castle. It was the birth of a new castellan, and, through the video footage, created a large force.

It was not a randomly occurred event, but it was not evident from the video, but it took a lot of preparation beforehand in order to conquer it in one go.

“However their true fears lie elsewhere. While there are users who enjoy going adventuring and fighting alone, most people usually made a guild or occupied a village, and ruled over it. Afterwards, they did not stop at political conspiracies and weakening alliances in order to raise their own influence. Especially in the case of the Hermes Guild, they were open about their methods and means of expanding their power. The Hermes Guild represents half of the competition in the struggle to control the Haven Kingdom. While we learned of this fact due to the inquiry, there are 3~4 guilds who have deep ties with the Hermes Guild among the competitors.”

“...”

It was a guild not based on friendship, but supremacy.

Because of the tremendous value of virtual Versailles Continent, many users were after similar authority.

The directors held their heads in their hands.

“There are a lot of amazing people.”

“It’s enough to give me goosebumps; how were they able to do so much like this?”

Director Kim Han Seo said.

“There is nothing to be too surprised at. We expected this much progress ever since we launched Royal Road.”

“...”

“Didn’t everyone already speculate a virtual reality would create a world which would be reigned with supremacy?”

While they anticipated some of this, the users had bewildered them with their unorthodox behaviors.

On the screen was a battle of the higher tier of users, but it was jaw-dropping. It was so action-packed which seemed as though they were fighting against monsters in a real fantasy world. It was daring, keen as a blade, and showed unparalleled skills and usage of their respective abilities.

Originally, they thought it would only be a few particularly powerful or focused users, but in reality, there were quite a number of extremely talented ambitious users!

They were lost for words at Royal Road; the world that they created.

“It is a new world. This is how we must now look upon Royal Road. And no matter what the ruler of Versailles is like, or whatever he does, he is invariably interconnected with us, and thus, we must keep a close eye out. This is the goal for our meeting.”

The members of the meeting nodded their heads while listening to Kim Han Seo.

Son Il Jang repeated.

“Bard Ray and other top level users does not release every information they have to the broadcasters and media stations. If you look at all the publicly released data, they’ve limited it so that users will not feel too unnerved about seemingly unreachable heights.”

Director Jang Yoon Soo groaned.

“I really want to recruit them into Department of Advertisements.”

The public appraisal of Bard Ray, he was a user who easily the supporting foundation of the guild.

To think, even truths such as these were easily manipulated.

The throats of the people who were gathered in the conference room suddenly went dry.

“I think this has to be brought up: there are about 149 people who control over 10,000 users through their individual strengths. However, among those 149, there are about 13 users who shine above the rest. Like a giant, fiery wave, they are the strongest and most cunning users. In the future, there will be more difficulties and changes, but in the present, out of the 149, we can expect a 70% chance of one of them prevailing as the Emperor.”

***


The meeting lasted until late at night

The discussion about the dynamics of the power of guild influence in Versailles continent was endless

Some players’ activities were so shocking, the people who participated in the meeting became uneasy.

The meeting completely ended, and Team Director Jang Yoon Soo and Son Il Jang and Kim Han Seo remained

“Whew! It’s all over. Good work, Section Chief Son.”

“Speak nothing of it. You must have worked hard to keep progressing like this, Team Leader Jang.”

While exchanging pleasantries, they blithely drank some coffee.

During this time, Jang Yoon Soo suddenly recalled something and asked.

“Director Son, a word if I may.”
“Yes?”

“I’m asking this because there is a user whom I have a personal interest in, however, I saw his personal files were not included.”

“There’s no reason for such situation to happen. We have completed all the reports on the users who could become Emperor... What is the user’s name?”

“It’s Weed.”

"If you're talking about Weed, he's the user who seized victory in the war against the Immortal Legion."

Section Chief Son Il Jang had watched the movie with Team Leader Jang Yoon Soo.

There was a time when the story of the Undead’s movements and similar things were spread.

“Weed... Based on his personal level and influence, he was not included as a target of this investigation.”

“As I expected.”

Team Leader Jang Yoon Soo was regretful. However, Director Kim Han Seo laughed and said.

“Even if Weed was to be included in the 149, he would have been the least powerful and influential.”

“Really? How so?”

Kim Han Seo answered with a calm but sharp tone

“Because he has no goal.”

Supervisor Jang Yoon Soo, who just couldn’t understand, continued to question Kim Han Seo.

“No goal you say. Weed is doing quests which astounds the whole world. Do you realize the short amount of time he’s been playing Royal Road?”

However, Even Son Il Jang was on the same side as Kim Han Seo.

“I as well, do not hold high expectations of Weed.”

"?."

“The truth is, even we, at the tactical management room, are watching extremely closely. Through investigation, we found he participated in the recent historic Palrangka battle, and it seems as though he’s been to Vampire Kingdom and back.”

Kim Han Seo nodded his head.

“I am also interested. I was once a user of the Continent of Magick.”

Every engineer in the Systems Department saw Weed’s quest.

Director Son Il Jang continued saying.

“However, there is more. I don’t know if he would do more quests which would impact the world... That is all. If you see the quests he has accomplished, his behavior, skill, and combat abilities at his core, he is similar to Morata’s Lord.”

“Excuse me? Are you saying the God of War Weed is Morata’s Lord, no, a Sculptor?”

“This is data is over 99% trustworthy.”

Team Leader Jang Yoon Soo had received the shock of his life.

Never in his wildest dreams did he ever muse Weed was truly a Sculptor.

As a Sculptor, he rose to Hall of Fame in less than a year’s time, and the fact he completed the Undead Legion quest went against logic and was disputed.

“It is very accurate. The basic defense and magic-related skills he displayed are too feeble to claim he had a battle-related profession. He’s making up for it through his battle senses and battle-related abilities.”

Team Leader Jang Yoon Soo could not believe it at all. However, Director Kim Han Seo, told him the truth while nodding his head. There was no other way, but to accept it.

Because Director Kim Han Seo was a notable figure who had access to all of the information within Unicorn Corporation.

“I see; it’s because he his profession is Sculptor, you don’t expect much from him.”

“You’ve got it wrong.”

Unexpectedly, Director Kim Han Seo denied it was because of his profession.

“Even within the Systems Department, there are lots of coworkers who like him. The God of War Weed, while being a legendary Dark Gamer, took part in impactful quests, as you saw, and also flaunted of his abilities. While I am also looking over him with interest, I am disappointed right now.”

“Why is it so?”

“He’s... Well, one could say he lived a very sheltered life in some aspects.”

“...”

“He’s only hunting and questing with a few people he knows, and hasn’t been a public figure. While eating fruits he could have easily grown in a warm greenhouse, he’s living a life devoid of greed. It’s one of the mistakes that most Dark Gamers make. Why did we give them the freedom to do whatever they wanted to do in the Versailles Continent in the first place?”

Team Leader Jang Yoon Soo answered while recollecting the initial planning stages.

“Is it because the users are residents of the Versailles Continent? Also, because they had to self-impose law and order...”

“That’s correct. We don’t think of our users as a number to represent our gross income. No matter how they go about it, as long as they have ambition, we won’t obstruct people with the drive to rule.”

Royal Road had paved a way for people to become rulers, emperors of a united empire. It gave them the freedom to try the impossible, to really actualize their dreams.

However, many Dark Gamers had a lucrative business of selling items or doing mercenary work to participate in requests. They were happy with their situation and did not look for more.

“He’s probably making money through broadcasts and the Hall of Fame, not just through selling items. He’s probably bringing in quite an amount. You could say he’s quite successful as a Dark Gamer.”

Director Kim Han Seo spoke as if he was familiar with the type.

If all one looked at were records of his hunts, quests, and reputation, then one would be able to estimate he was making more than the average section head of a large company.

“However, this is a secret... I won’t be able to observe him forever. There’s the fact I wouldn’t be the first one to make him public, and, while the truth is, I want to protect his secret, if the tactical management room managed to find out about this, other people will be able to find out as well.”

In other words, while Weed had hidden himself in a safe house, eventually he his identity would be exposed in a not-so-distant future.

Team Leader Jang Yoon Soo spoke defensively.

“Even so, isn’t it surprising he could go this far as a Sculptor?”

Director Kim Han Seo showed his harsh reactions.

“He’s amazing, for a Sculptor. I don’t know if there’s some other meaning behind the question. Do we have to hold sympathies to his enemies?”

“It’s not exactly it, but...”

“I know Morata is currently growing at a tremendous rate. Am I correct?”

“Yes. It is becoming the capital of the North. It is leading the adventures in the North, and lately there have been enormous investment funds made.”

“When the Church of Freya’s protection ends, and, if the user traffic increases in the North, there will be greedy people gathering there. The enemies who will invade Morata, will they have any interest in whether he’s a Sculptor or not?”

“...”

“His widespread reputation of being the ‘God of War’. In order to protect a reputation like his, he will have to put in a lot of effort. If he simply basks in the glory of his reputation, then the day will come with he succumbs to it.”

Team Leader Jang Yoon Soo could not say anything in defense; Director Kim Han Seo had hit the nail on the head.

“They see it as ‘while travelling up to the North, I can have my wish granted.’ If they only try to protect the city and challenge him, then they won’t be able to obtain anything. If you don’t have dreams, you will be die while being trampled. If not, you’ll end up as an average user...the Versailles Continent won’t open the way for the incompetent.”

It was the first time he had seen Director Kim Han Seo so impassioned.

It was enough to intimidate Team Leader Jang Yoon Soo.

Unicorn’s core executive, who was as capable as an engineer, had a superior brain.

Since he was Director Kim Han Seo, whose scholarly voice was heard throughout the entire field, one could trust whatever he said would come to be.

Department head Son Il Jang was careless, and threw a question out to lighten the mood.

“What if... Weed really aimed for the Versailles Continent; what do you think would happen?”

Thoughtlessly, he asked without having any intent behind it.

Director Kim Han Seo closed his eyes and kept silent for awhile.

Due to him staying in the same position for awhile, they began to suspect he has fallen asleep, but he opened his eyes and spoke.

“Then the entire Versailles Continent might fall into his hands...”

“...”

“If he starts to actually dream big, then the situation will be reversed. Bringing his hidden talent to light, and his large reputation spreads, then God of War Weed’s dreams...the Versailles Continent could be reborn.”

***


While Daymond was hunting the northern boss monsters, he also collected the map pieces which lead them to the Church of Death.

In the process of collecting pieces of the map, Predators of the Land guild took a lot of damage.

“It’s okay if we die. Our last hope is hanging on this quest... Even if we have to spend the last of our saved money, we must succeed!”

Everyone laughed at them for challenging the impossible.

The reason why boss monsters were so dangerous wasn’t only because of their power, but because of the attack patterns were impossible to predict.

Lack of information resulted in massive damage!

For the monsters they failed to hunt over and over again, some guild members died as often as 10 times.

However, the northern users who were driven by the sacrificed members were able to succeed by combining their strength.

“Hooray for Predators of the Land guild!”
“The best hunting guild has been born.”

“A guild of warriors who specializes in hunting boss monsters.”

After defeating 12 boss monsters, the voices of the admirers of the Predators of the Land guild grew louder.

However, without second thoughts or regrets, Daymond and his guild hid themselves.

The seven map pieces they had striven to acquire were assembled.

Although the guild was honored to be the first to slay a boss monster of the North, they were not able to feel any emotion. Because they had lost their lives so many times, they did not regard this act as a great achievement.

Daymond and the Predators of the Land guild went into the guild’s dismal and dark basement.

“Captain.”
“Yes?”

“Why, of all times, are we going to the basement now?”

Daymond answered Nardo’s question with a relaxed attitude.

“Because it’s fitting for us who are planning something sinister.”

“Che! I keep telling you, you go with the flow too much.”

Daymond only grinned and laughed at Nardo’s rebuke. Then, he pulled out the map fragments from his chest.

“Then I’ll try to fit them together now.”

It was said in a voice clearly filled with tension.

Daymond took the 7 pieces of the guiding fragments, and started to adjust their placement, as if he was solving a puzzle.

Hwa-reu-reu-reuk!

The map suddenly caught on fire.

“Ah!”

And then Daymond’s and his guildmates’ bodies stiffened.

A video composed of a set of pictures was formed in the fire.

After passing a sunken land, and you pass a place where many monsters’ bones lie; climbing mountain and field, and you go through a cliff with barely any foothold, you will cross a Forest of Fog. The dried and dead trees will be a landmark.

Once you cross the forest, a Church of the Death will appear.The place was closed for several hundred years. After seeing a set of heavy doors at the place, the pictures ended.

Only burned-up ashes remained of the map, and the rest disappeared.

Daymond raised his flaming eyes at his guildmates.

“Everyone remember what they saw?”
“Yes, we memorized it perfectly.”
“We’re going to go to this place right now.”

Daymond and the Predators of the Land guild immediately set forth. It wasn’t a place too far from Morata.

They rode on fast horses and they went 3 days south and then went west, across the wastelands.

Since the wastelands is mostly composed of dungeons, it was a place rarely visited by adventurers.

“Deriam Desert; to think we would have to pass this place.”

“This is the place where the boss monster we hunted resides.”

“I do seem to recall a memory of going through a lot of trouble to find the place the bastard was hiding in.”

The Northern expeditions and the adventurers had already search a considerable amount of places. However, usually they only scratched about in places like the wasteland or the Forest of Fogs.

Because the Versailles continent was so wide, if one did not know their exact location, they could even pass over dungeons.

Although the Wastelands encouraged exploration in the beginning, there were only a few visible dungeons because there was no feasible way to go over the whole thing.

In order to find the place shown in the picture, the Predator of the Land guild passed through the Wastelands and the cliffs.

They were barely able to find the dried-up, withered trees at the Forest of Fog, and they were able to take a guess at the path.

After passing all the difficulties, they finally arrived at the shrine of the Church of Death.

They had arrived at a shrine exuding a mysteriously evil aura just as the fragment depicted.

It was a discovery that would go down in the history of the Versailles Continent.

Daymond had spent long hours and finally saw the thickly dust-coated, unspoiled-magnificence of the shrine.

“What does it say on the door?”

The guild magician interpreted in their stead.

“It says ‘Door of Hell’ in ancient language.”
“It means the door is not meant to be opened.”

For a split second, Daymond struggled immensely.

They did not know what would happen if they opened to door to the stone shrine; they did not know what pure terrors lay ahead.

Even though they did not want to stare at a door which perfectly fit the frame and left no cracks, they had a feeling it should not be opened.

“However we cannot just give up after getting this far.”

Daymond gritted his clenched teeth.

The quest did not end simply by finding the Church of Death.

“No matter what is at the end of this road, I want to see it.”

Daymond opened the iron door widely.

He was then greeted by a fearful number of malignant demons. They were gruesome monsters looking like they came straight out from imaginations.

The boss-level monsters they had hunted in order to arrive there were also there.

“D-Daymond! Be careful.”

Their head warrior, who was known to show no fear, said in a shaky voice.

Nardo observed the malignant demons.

“It seems they aren’t attacking.”

“Huh?”
“They’re just watching us calmly.”

Whenever Nardo moved, the eyes of the thousands of demons moved and followed him. They didn’t take an aggressive stance, but silently guarded their places. The demons were lined up on either side, and there was a passage where a person could fit in between them. They felt they could get eaten as soon as they were a toe out of place, but Nardo did not even hesitate.

“Let’s try this path”
“Yeah, seems like we should go through this path.”

Daymond and the Predators of the Land Guild walked with heavy steps.

They were unaware of anything when they were trying to gather all of the map pieces for the S-rank difficulty quest. They began to suspect more as they got closer to the Church of Death, but they were overwhelmed by the pressure now.

Daymond squared up his shoulders and walked.

‘This life... I’ve already intended to throw it away.’

If there were enough demons, then one’s will to resist would actually rise.

The demons were gathered at the Church of Death.

They would be no more than a single meal to these monsters, who were nameless and were shaped in every way possible, which drained their courage.

‘Since we’re here now, is there anything left, but to die?’

A realistic sculpture of a village, which was in the spitting image of the village they saw at the entrance, was there, and on the altar were incomprehensible symbols and words written down in ancient times.


    - I long for a place where those who died with regrets can live on. The power of resurrection is the eleventh authority of the Embinyu Church. The more dead there are, the greater the number of brethren of the Embinyu Church. This is your duty: to kill many people; to save many people.

The written phrases were hard to understand.

Daymond did not think about the written phrases in depth.

“Embinyu Church? This is the first I’ve heard of it, but if it’s a passage we have to know, then we’ll figure it out eventually.”

Since they were at the Embinyu Church, there were many things they wondered about.

The shut rooms, ornaments, and packed items.

As if to say their suffering was at an end, there were many places they could explore. However, Daymond and his guildmates did not get reckless.

“Since we found the Church of Death, it’s the time to learn more about the priest. Let’s go to the rectory first.”

Therefore Daymond and his guild moved in preparation to fight.



- Priest of Resurrection’s Rectory



While they came knowing it was the Church of Death, there was the word “resurrection,” completely contrary to their belief.

“Are you sure there aren’t any other rectories?”

“There isn’t. I can’t see any; this is the only place which says ‘Rectory.’”

“Then let’s go into this rectory. Everyone, be on your guard.”

They pushed the door into the cobweb, dust-filled rectory and entered.

There was no living person in the rectory, and there was a dried out and withered mummified corpse. Also, in front of it was a compiled book.

«Scriptures of Resurrection».

The book was decorated with golden embroidery threads.

Daymond stretched out his hand toward the book.

Since he was undertaking the commission from the church of death, the priests would have to dig up the secrets.

While investigating the corpses, the priests were moving various items about as they should; however, they were not able to overcome their greed and laid their hands lustfully on the goods.

“Identify!”


    - Spellbook of Resurrection: Durability 58/60 The scriptures of the 11th sect of Embinyu Church. Contains the basic Resurrection, Plague, and Magic of Immortality. The Resurrection spell is considered as the most evil black magic regarded as a heresy. If Necromancy is about raising the dead to undead, Resurrection is forcing the dead to come back from hell through a terrible sacrifice. This is not a complete revival. This is close to an atrocious contract compels monsters from hell, the dead to arise, and controls them. This is a forbidden text which gave rise to the foundations of this field of study differs from Undead Magic! This book is the foundation of the existence of The Order of Resurrection. Limit: Available for Resurrection Priest job. Can use only if you are the previous profession. Whenever you use a magic spell, you must take the life force of a living thing.

    Option: Resistance against All Magic +50 All stats+10 Mana regeneration rate will be increased by 25% When Immortal Life is active, Health will not decrease. Will be able to control the resurrected dead.

    *Resurrect: Required Life - 20 lives. By taking other players’ lives, can resurrect the dead and use them as underlings.

    *Plague: Required life- 150 lives. With the use of mana, creates a powerful plague on an area. The area of effect is limited to a certain area. The spreading speed will be determined by the medium.

    *Immortal Life: Only able to use once. Unable to cancel. Grants limitless life to the user. But when the user is unable to get supplies of sacrificial lives, Immortal Life is disenchanted and the users life will be forever gone with it.

The Embinyu Church.

The unknown 11th sect of the Embinyu Church. They are the ones who endlessly kill to resurrect and rule over the dead.

In the world, they are better known as the Clan of Death.

Ttiring!


    - You can become The Priest of Resurrection Would you like to change your job right now? Even after switching the job, your skills and stats will remain constant. You will be able to use the Spellbook of Resurrection. The Priest of Resurrection have an obligation to fill Versailles with the resurrected creatures they can make. By the contract with Death, you will be against the provision of nature. Thus, once you die, you will meet a everlasting rest.

He could become the Priest of Resurrection.

Once he get the dark monsters and it’s followers under his control, the Predators of the Land guild’s power would become high ranked at once.

The dark monsters promised unquestioning obedience compared to allied guilds and recruited mercenaries.

He could also use the Magic of Resurrection.

However, in return, if Daymond were to die just once, he would face eternal death.

A short-lived, but grand, road.

He was at a standing point, whether if all the people playing Royal Road focus their spotlight on Daymond, or simply just continued his quest to unveil the secrets of the priest.

“I would like to be the Prest of Resurrection”

Daymond chose to change profession.

***


Daymond and his Predators of the Land guild took control of the property and the dark monsters. There weren’t piles of treasures, but there were several orbs and items related on curse magic.

The rest of the guild members also gave up their original professions and became Priests of Resurrection.

“This may be our be our final amusement”

Daymond said while smiling faintly.

The Priest of Resurrection, in order to maintain power and strength, one must ceaselessly kill someone.

They are able to resurrect the dead based on the sacrificial lambs they slay.

It was clear the Versailles Continent would collapse into utter chaos.

However, there is no turning back now. Suban, who had became the Priest of Resurrection laughed.

“Let’s just give it all we got”

Nardo took off the witch’s robe and threw it aside, and fidgeted as if the Priest robe she was wearing was uncomfortable.

“There’s no law which says we have to die early. We will live, no, we must survive and wave our flags,”

Daymond nodded and said.

“That’s not a bad idea.”

The quest to unearth the secrets of the Priests of Death was canceled. Instead, a quest to spread the name of the Resurrection Church appeared.