Volume 4 Chapter 4

Engraving Master Darone

Bensa River

It was the lifeline of the British Confederation. Strolling across the expanses of the continent, it was said that along the river were nine spectacular sceneries.

When Royal Road was just released, players were enchanted by the river.

With dazzling beauty and tranquillity, it was a place that pleased all travelers.

For this reason, many players choose to start off in the British Confederation: sometimes just to picnic by the river!

Couples would be littered about the river. Even the strong torrential rain did not scare them off because the river was so beautiful.

“Look at that. Can it really be that beautiful?”

“It’s as if the sky has come to meet the river.”

“As the rain falls into the river, it runs into the sea and fills it. Just like how my heart is filled with our love.”

“Aww, I love you.”

“Me too.”

The heavy rain fell on the earth overshadowed by a dark sky. With the rising mist, and thick white fog, an impression that the river and sky touching was created. As a result, a beautiful yet terrifying scene was portrayed.

Couples sitting lovingly together under a tree would watch the scene as they made promises of eternal love to each other. Conversation made at that time would remain in their memories for a long time.

But the world can be quite cruel to love!

“Wow! There’s a lot of water.”

“Yeah there’s a lot …”

“It’s a little bit strange.”

“I’m scared…”

“Oh no! The water is getting closer!”

“Huh, I think it’s closer than before.”

“Oh no! Oh no! Oh no!”

The river was constantly changing. Many small streams ran into the river and nourished it. As the streams filled it, the rain gave it momentum. Eventually it would go so fast that the water would explode flooding its banks.

“Ahhhh!”

“Save me!”

“We have to run!”

“This is hell!”

Huge waves swallowed careless couples. In the thick fog, it was a battle for life and death.

People were screaming, running, trying to escape, but to no avail: the river showed no mercy to them.

Spectators watched from afar, those that couldn’t stand the sight of lovers chose a place far away from the river, and watched happily as they were swept away. In real life, they lived a life of solitude, so an indifferent smile decorated their faces.

“Hehehe!”

“Ahahah!”

“Amazing!”

Even for all the money in the world, you could not see such a sight. The fearsome waves as they carried the couples away. The snow storms in the province of Morata. In the vast continent of Versailles these sights were priceless.

The Bensa River flowed peacefully. After the horrendous downpour, the river returned to its natural state, a majestic river flowing smoothly and slowly.

People living near the place at the time would find themselves becoming calm, and soothed.

However there were others, one person had cold and prickly eyes as he looked down at the people below.

The man was Weed.

“Ha, well now, I’ll be sure to catch something big!”

It had been a week since he began to fish in the river. While fishing he honed his sculpting skills but that was the only thing he made progress on. His blacksmithing and tailoring levels rose quickly because of his high handcrafting skill but fishing was different. It all depended on what kind of fish you caught.

And if you used the best bait, no one could predict what kind of fish you would get and what the fish would do.

Maybe you would catch something, or maybe the fish would just eat the bait.

Weed had been sitting on the bank of the river for a whole week and he only reached beginner level 3 for fishing.

“Definitely something large. Yes, I’m going to catch a huge fish.”

He closely followed the float with his eyes, without losing focus for even a second. Spinning in the crystal water the fish would try to steal the bait on the hook.

“Selling expensive fish!”

If it wasn’t for the salary he received from the CST Media, money from the awards he gained from the Order of Freya, the revenue he made from repairing items, and the auction, Weed would not have had the opportunity to waste time. However, with money, he could now relax and develop his fishing skills.

Although he was in such a serene setting, Weed shuddered at the thought of depositing his savings.

To pay for his sister’s tuition, he needed to set aside 2 million won every month. Since he had no regular income, his payment would have to be postponed every month. Weed felt like the protagonist in a horror movie.

Not surprisingly, he shuddered because all of the money would only cover breakfast.

Even the fact that he opened an account at a savings bank for mutual credit, where the annual rate of interest was 2% above average compared to other banks, did not save him from his anxiety.

If the bank went bankrupt, the government would only return up to 50,000 won. That is if the bank was connected to a major politician. Also he was sceptical of the savings bank.

“South Korea’s politicians are a hotbed of corruption. They often create a bank for money laundering, so it’s not surprising that they cannot give large profits.”

Every day while fishing, Weed could not stop thinking about sculptural design. As a moonlight sculptor, he was influenced heavily by the local ice sculptures in Morata.

“I wish I was at Baran or Laviase. The sculptures there are probably harmonized with their surrounding environment. Hmm, I wonder what kind of sculpture would fit a river landscape. ”

Making a fine piece or even a grand piece was not so easy. He needed an original idea and he had to implement it perfectly.

“There’s a flowing river, and I catch in it…. I know! I’ll make something that attracts fish!” Weed jumped so that he almost dropped his bait.

He immediately contacted Mapan.

“Hey, Mapan!”

“Yes! Weed” he said with all of his attention and respect.

After the auction, he had gained several levels along with unshakable faith in Weed. He would even go so far to say that as long as you’re with Weed, gold coins will fall from the sky into your pockets.

“I need a stone, the larger the better. Also make sure it’s pure and clean.”

“It’ll take two days, especially since it’s a rock.”

Weed anxiously waited for Mapan as he fished. However, when he pulleded his line up, often there was no fish.

Weed had spent so much good bait, and had nothing to show for it.

“This is impossible!” Out of anger he threw the rod on the ground. “I’m missing something.”

The gears in his head began to spin wildly. Faced with a crisis he became fully immersed searching for his mistake.

Then he heard a voice:

“Ho-ho, you need to understand something. Fishing is something that cleans your soul. Fish freely float in the river, carelessly and deliberately. That is why we want to catch them so badly, right? But once we catch them, then they are not free anymore, they become just a piece of meat.”

On the river, there were a lot of players who loved to fish. Even more, in real life they were related to fishing in one way or another. And in Royal Road, these players did not play because they liked to game, but because they liked fishing.

It was a fishing club.

For them, Royal Road became a place of promise. They fished in amazing places not found on Earth. Ate delicious, exotic fish and chatted with interesting people. Their characters were developed only through fishing.

Luckily, in Royal Road, players are not forced to do one thing. If you choose a craft profession, it does not mean that you have to sit day and night, making stuff. Also, craft skills raised a large variety of skills. For example, if you made armor, it would raise craftsmanship, blacksmithing, and a couple of other skills.

With this, all players could go hunt monsters and not feel too weak. As with sculpting and other skills, fishing also helps a player survive. It increases vitality, stamina, and endurance, and it also increases your reflexes because all you do all day is wait for a fish to bite your hook.

“I’ll learn how to fish. I don’t have to raise my levels again, but I’ll have to relearn the basics of fishing.”

Weed studied cooking by looking for new recipes in real life and in game. But he was too impatient to fish. As he reflected on his crisis he found one problem.

You can’t rely on good bait and your fishing skill. Like engraving, you have to rely on your own skill, while the system assists you. But as the saying goes, “trust but verify” so Weed decided to approach the problem from another angle.

He joined the fishing club and began to learn the basics of fishing.

He learned how to select and string bait, how to choose a place for fishing, and much, much more.

“So… Depending on where you are, the kind of fish you catch will be different?” Weed asked the jolly bearded fisherman

“Yup, that’s absolutely true. Think to yourself. At sea, you won’t find river fish, and at a river you won’t find any whales. ”

“Uh… I already knew that. I mean does it matter where I fish along a river?”

“Tsk tsk” clicked the fisherman, squinting he said “Is the water in a river the same everywhere?”

There are deep places, and there are shallow waters. Stony places with seaweed, with pure water, mixed with food, without food, with cold water or with warm water. By the way, the latter is particularly important: When there isa convergenve of cold and warm water, one can find there the most delicious fish..

“Oh. So that’s how …”

Weed realized that what he had thought initially was wrong. He would choose a secluded spot because he thought there would be no more fish in crowded areas. He then chose to sit among a group of fishermen but found it too noisy and crowded. However, now he knew that location mattered so Weed, without hesitating, fished near a skilled fisherman.

“Uhhh, this is great!” Weed said happily

After changing his location and selecting his bait, the quality of fish he caught improved. In addition, he caught much more fish than before.

“Here, I brought a stone” said Mapan, pointing to a cart with a big gray boulder inside.

“Thank you, Mapan.”

“Ah. .. What are you going to do with it …”

“Well, if you have the time, wait and see. Although I may be wrong …”

“Are you going to make a sculpture?”

“Even though I know this might fail but…”

Mapan had seen Weed create amazing sculptures many times. He loved to observe him work, and sat watching on the ground, waiting for him to work.

Weed fiddled with his knife and tried to figure out something.

Perhaps the sculpture would show the peak of his current skills. Weed believed that he would succeed even though he was making a rock sculpture for the first time. He didn’t want to rush and mess up the sculpture. Novices would often immediately rush to work, and then mess up, resulting in penalties.

Mapan waited a moment and said:

“What are you going to make?”

“Uhhh…”

“Still don’t know yourself?”

Weed gave a silent nod. Mapan hit the nail on the head. We need to do something that will help me raise my fishing level. Just what is it?

“Maybe we can make a huge bait?” Weed seriously considered the suggestion but decided against it. No, that’s stupid; the statue would just scare the fish.

“We need to make a sculpture associated with the sea, something good which attracts fish … Yes, a woman. A Mermaid!”

The well-known fairy tale of a mermaid:

Once there was a mermaid princess that lived her whole life under water, and when she was 15, she went above water for the first time in her life. At that moment, she saw a ship with a young prince on board. Surprisingly, she fell in love at first sight and for several days accompanied the ship. But then there was a storm. The ship began to sink, and the mermaid caught the unconscious prince and rescued him. When the prince woke he thought the temple girl saved him so he decided to marry her. Upon hearing this, the little mermaid in desperation turned to a dark witch, and got human legs in exchange for her beautiful voice. She went into the palace and tried to win the prince over but failed.

In despair she jumped out of a window into the sea and turned into sea foam. All the inhabitants of the sea bitterly mourned her death and often visited her resting place.

“Yes, a mermaid would be the best, and fish would swim to the location of the statue.”

Weed worked hard carving with his knife. Recently he made sculptures of women by hand and so without further ado he again embodied the image of Seo-yoon.

However, this time he would have to make changes.

“Everything below the belt should be a fish tail…bigger eyes, flowing hair… Hmm, I’ll also have to make the top nude.”

Weed stopped and appreciated the work done. The face appeared quite similar to Seo-yoon. He was ashamed a little of making her naked. Internally, he opposed it; besides if she saw it, then he would be in trouble.

“Hmm, what should I do … Ahh! I’ll just remake an actress” Weed began to recall well-known actresses and made changes to the sculpture. The face changed a lot, and the body became more curved.”

Interested fishermen gathered around Weed.

“Oh! What is this?”

“A Sculpture. I’ve never seen a sculptor like him before.”

“It’s beautiful.”

Fishing on the river was slow and boring, so strange events attracted many players. Weed, scrolling through images in his head, quickly cut out details in the sculpture. In the end, it turned out as a beautiful but sad girl with a baby face.

Weed made sure to make the sculpture young because, as in the legend the little mermaid was not a grown woman.

Tink!

“…”

Weed lowered his hands.

The statue was supposed to help catch fish, and not give any extra effects.

A Water nymph “the daughter of the sea god, with a nice fish tail.” Apparently a nymph and a mermaid was something similar, and this similarity played a cruel joke.

“You …”

The fishermen condemned weed as they looked at the statue. For them, as solitary men they liked to watch the river as it carried couples away. And now there was a sculpture that would prevent floods for the next 10 years. Weed had become the enemy of most anglers.

“Honestly, I didn’t intend for this” justified Weed as the fishermen closed in on him.

“Ah! I’ll fix everything!”

In his situation, he had to act quickly. Weed turned toward the sculpture and shouted:

“Sculpture destruction!”

From the base of the sculpture, up-to-head, appeared a huge crack, and when it reached the top of the sculpture, it shattered into many small fragments.

Even with the destruction of a sculpture it was one of the skills of a sculptor, so it gave experience points. Even more points than creating sculptures. But it could not be used more than once a day and decreased performance.

1800 points from his art stat was added to his dexterity.

Now he fished so quickly that his hands were a blur. However, his fishing rate was not affected, but it still looked impressive.

* * *

The SwordNoobs gripped their blades.

“Ohhh!”

“We got everything but the dragon!”

After a quick death, the SwordNoobs were full of determination again.

Revived, they appeared somewhere in the forest and Geomohochi, standing on a tree, calmly surveyed the surrounding area.

“Fifth, what you see?” the teacher anxiously asked

“I don’t see anything.”

“Geomsamchi, what about you?”

“I see … a boy.”

“A little boy! Does that mean there’s a town nearby?” As the master jumped up so did all 500 of his students.

Frankly, they did not want to admit it, but they were lost. After fearlessly attacking the dragon, many of them died and were reborn somewhere to the south of Rosenheim. With their supplies long gone, the SwordNoobs resorted to forest barriers and rare game from hunting.

Rare because the group of 500 could not move quietly enough to catch animals off guard. And because none of them knew how to cook, they ate under cooked or burnt meat, making everyone sick.

“Bring him here.”

“There he is.”

Geomsamchi quickly ran forward and brought the boy.

The SwordNoobs, looking at the child could not help but cry.

“Ohhh!”

“How long has it been since we’ve seen people?”

“Finally we can go back to a village.”

“And eat delicious bread. Yum-yum.”

The master on behalf of his students asked the child:

“Is there is a village nearby?”

The child looked nervous and stuttered:

“Ye-y-y-y … Yes, but who are these uncles?”

“Uncles!” The crowd quickly became rowdy.

“Why did you call us uncles!””We’re not even married. We are young!”

“And I am only 20!” There was a pained cry from the crowd.

The SwordNoobs responded very strongly to the boy’s words, though, they should have been happy that they were not mistaken for robbers.

With the boy’s words the SwordNoobs began to reflect on themselves.

“That’s weird. I see strangers form parties and hunt together but we don’t do that.”

“Why don’t we?”

“Yeah. Wherever we go, people scatter.”

“Also in the fortress of Seraburg! When we went to the market, people avoided us.”

“This reminds me, we’ve never hunted with women! If this continues, we will live a lonely life, and die forgotten as a lonely old fart!”

The SwordNoobs for the hundredth time shared the same experience. Then the boy fell on his knees.

“Please help me!”

“Huh?”

“My parents have been taken away by the evil giant! I left the village in order to find help. I beg you, please save them!”

Tink!

The instructors and students looked expectantly at their master. For them, doing quests was like being an errand boy, so they always refused to accept quests.

But this time, the master smiled gently and said:

“We will save your parents.”

“Master, don’t we usually refuse? Geomdulchi asked.

“Well, usually we refuse quest for bringing or collecting things. But as warriors we should help those who are in trouble, that goes without saying”

the teacher answered firmly.

“Then we will also …”

“Everyone take the quest. We’re going to catch a giant.”

With the words “first the sword,” the students cheered.

“Wow!”

“A quest!”

“I can’t believe we’re doing a quest!”

It was a dream of all real warriors to help those in need and drive out monsters!

The SwordNoobs headed toward the giant. It was not difficult, since along the way were traces of the giant on the ground.

“Oh! That’s big.”

“Probably more than 3 meters in diameter.”

“If his foot is this big, then how big is the body?”

When doing quests, regular players would first gather information and prepare in advance. However, the SwordNoobs stupidly went on ahead. Following the tracks they came across a huge cave as big as the dragon’s cave they came across before.

At the sound of the SwordNoobs, a huge, but not very intelligent monster appeared. As the giant walked out of his cave it grew angry at the sight of uninvited guests.

Boom-boom-boom!

The giant man ran toward the SwordNoobs, and the ground shook as if there was an earthquake.

“Run!” Shouted the teacher.

They scattered harmoniously left and right.

Wham!

The huge foot of the giant left a deep mark on the spot where the SwordNoobs were standing.

“What is this…”

With his weight and feet as weapons, he was bound to kill some of the SwordNoobs.

The Giant, shouting, was jumping, trying to crush the SwordNoobs. However, they avoided the jumps and struck at his feet.

“Now, grab him!”

The first and second SwordNoobs smartly climbed onto the giant. The monster didn’t like it, and started to wave his arms around to get rid of the pesky soldiers on the back of his head.

“Uhuu!”

The first three SwordNoobs, clutching the giant’s hair and clothes avoided his attacks.

Meanwhile, down below, many blows were dealt on his foot.

Like a huge elephant being taken down by a swarm of ants, the giant lost its strength, staggered, and fell onto the ground.

Kwaahang!

“Victory!”

“All thanks to you, Master!”

While the SwordNoobs celebrated, a small boy appeared in the distance. He ran exhausted – looking at the men that were appearing from the cave. Embracing them, and telling them something while pointing to the SwordNoobs. Eventually he came up to the SwordNoobs.

“Thank you for saving my father and mother, uncle.”

“Why…It’s nothing.”

“No, it is, as promised a reward.”

The boy bringing a sword much too heavy for him handed it to the master.

“Here, take it.”

“Check item” the master quickly examined the sword, and found that it was much better than what they had at present.

“The rest of the swords are in the village. And our village is famous for medicinal herbs. In appreciation, we would like to give them to you, and if you want, you can sell them in the city for a good price.”

The disciples were stunned that the boy did not disappoint them. They helped people in distress, increased their fame, while still training!

“Cheers!”

“OOOO! Now, let’s keep going!”

Royal road gradually opened to the SwordNoobs.

Weed rose his fishing seriously.

“As long as I get an average fish, I will only eat fish.”

He swallowed the fish whole, and with each new dish his determination grew stronger. Sometimes not wanting to waste time he ate the fish raw.

“Wow! Muck.”

Weed kept on fishing only on the strength of his will and obstinacy.

He always liked to fight, collect items and get stronger. Which he could do indefinitely. Now however, what he was doing was nothing like that. Only a peaceful, leisurely fishing which didn’t even make money, like his blacksmithing or tailoring skill. After all, if you catch a big and wonderful fish, it would be sold cheaply as food.

As the days passed his level rose to beginner level 9. More precisely, to 97.6%.

While he was fishing, he was surprised to learn of the existence of the fish market.

And next to Weed was always the same person. Slender and tall, a young man named Zephyr. Weed later found out that the guy started fishing here since the opening of Royal Road.

He was sitting on the rocks and gazed longingly at the Bensa River. It was said that some of the girls fell in love with this mysterious silent figure.

It would have probably went on as usual, but then came Weed. When he arrived, the strongest fisherman on the river was just Zephyr. His fishing level was well above average. Therefore, Weed decided, and sat down with the best fisherman on the river.

At first Zephyr paid hardly any attention to him, but gradually he began to respond to Weed. And at some point began to compare fish.

The two men grimly watched the river.

Zephyr’s float first went under water.

“Oh great, a big fish!” Shouting, he pulled his rod back. But the only thing that hung on his hook was just an old boot.”

“Damn.”

Frustrated Zephyr sat on a rock and had started to stick on new bait, when Weed’s float went under water.

Weed carefully, but with great control, was pulling his prey out of the river. As if playing a game, Weed and the fish pulled on the line. Using a lot of force was bad. Sometimes you have to let go a little, sometimes on the contrary, spin. Fish were strong, and if you thoughtlessly pulled at the line, then it was possible to break the line.

With a little trouble, Weed pulled out of the river a large carp. It was a humongous fish, more than 45 centimetres. In the history of fishing in the Bensa River, that fish ranked among the top 10 largest fish ever caught.

Tink!

After so much of suffering, Weed, finally increased his fishing level.

Having achieved his goal, he began to slowly collect his things.

“While the focus on this is finally over” he thought to himself.

Weed set out to learn all the craft professions to master level. It was huge and demanding mission, which would take him more than one year.

But now with his stats increased Weed was pleased.

“Are you going?” Zephyr cautiously asked when he saw that Weed had begun to collect his belongings. His voice was full of regret.

“Yes, I must go.”

“I just realized that we never spoke much … And you … you’re probably older than me right?”

“Well if you ask, perhaps I am. Perhaps we’ll even see each other again.”

Weed left the Bensa River, and headed to the capital of the kingdom, Kroin, to sell his figurines, which he made while fishing.

Ding-dong!

He rang the bell on the door of the souvenir shop. The owner was at the counter alone.

“What leads you here?”

“I have come to sell some sculptures.”

Weed put his products on the counter: figurines of vampires, wolves, the crown of Fargo and many others.

“Wow!” The shopkeeper could not hide his delight. “Excellent! I have never seen such excellent products. I cannot even imagine their value. Such depth, such a flight of thought in these statues … and you happen to look at the wolf, when they made this statue?”

“Yes, I did.”

“Were you hungry?”

Weed nodding played along:

“Yes, I had to go hungry for four days.”

“Oh! Even so. I feel it, when I look into the eyes of a wolf, a living statue …”

“Ohoho” Weed laughed heartily, with the shop owner’s last words he offered a prepared fried fish.

“Oh, yes! While you evaluate my products, try this dish, I cooked it myself. Eat it for Health and quietly gaze at my statues.”

“Why thank you. Maybe I will look for you in the future. I too, was at one time engaged in the work of a sculptor, but alas, I didn’t have much talent, so I had to open the shop.”

“I have only recently embarked on the path of a sculptor, and I still have a lot to learn. But my desire to sculpt does not lose to anyone. Consider me a novice sculptor and suggest any advice if you see any errors. I will be very grateful.”

“Impossible.”

Flattery! Gifts! Dedication!

To the people that have influence, it is better to be a little obsequious and friendly. Weed brought a simple dish, said a few kind words, and his relationship with the owner of the shop greatly improved. Who would not be pleased when praised!

But compliments should be used carefully, and one should be careful not to overpraise. Or else, his efforts would backfire. For example, if the shop keeper had really short legs, and if such a person were to say that he looked very tall, then the effect would be the opposite.

The shopkeeper would immediately notice the flattery and begin to think, what do you want from him. In order not to fail so miserably, you had to carefully select words for compliments. Look very good, or when laughing look honest. Therefore, choosing his words, it was necessary to consider them.

You can even use criticism. Take all tall men and criticize them:

“Growth means nothing. If you do not possess eyes enabling to see and appreciate beauty, you cannot even understand the nature of good works.”

“Yes, you are right.”

So, while the shopkeeper priced figurines, they traded with each other phrases and their friendship strengthened.

After exchanging pleasantries and evaluating the figurines, they moved on to the main point:

“How much would you give for them?”

Weed goal for the game never changed. Money, money, money and more time! He was ready to get out of his skin just to earn more money.

“For such a superb job, I will give you 3 gold per sculpture. Is that all right?”

“I’ll sell them all” Weed replied without hesitation.

Recently, he stopped selling figurines to ordinary players. Even if you put in extra time and effort into you work, people would only pay something around 1 gold. But when you sell to a shop, it’s possible to get 2 or 3 gold.

Although if you figured how much time he spent on the creation of figurines, the payment would not cover even the cost of simple physical labor.

It was much more efficient to make money by hunting rather than selling statuettes.

Weed gratefully took the 245 gold.

“Maybe when my level rises, I can earn more. But until then I’ll have to do this” he thought sadly.

Throwing the money into his backpack, he was about to leave.

“I see you have a talent for sculptural design. You see beautiful things and make them into sculptures” said the shopkeeper.

Considering that this was another compliment Weed was already heading toward the exit, but his next words made him change his mind.

“A Sculptor must feel the beauty of life, and I see it in you. Did you happen to hear about the master-sculptor Darone? I usually do not tell, but you have the gift of the sculptor, so I can trust you. Did you know that Darone lives in the town of Rega?