Volume 4 Chapter 1

Plains of Despair

“That guy is weird. What is he doing?”

“Maybe he’s a lunatic? He looks like one too”

“Let’s just keep walking”

All the residents of the city feared and avoided the man. They thought that if they approached him, then something bad would happen. He seemed dangerous, and so the townsfolk decided it best to avoid him.

That man was Weed and he was up and about screaming.

“AAAAAHHHHH!”

His erratic jumps and screams scared away all the pedestrians. It was a good thing that he was hidden between the two churches of Freya. If this happened in the middle of a busy street, then videos of him throwing a tantrum would inevitably be posted on numerous websites.

“Ouuuuuuuu!” Weed even burst into tears as he finished. “I missed my chance!”

In Mora, just when Weed was about to return to Somreun Liberty City through the teleportation gates, a glow shone through the spatial gap. Then suddenly, a thought hit him.

“Now I can no longer enjoy the effects of the Ice Dragon and the Ice Beauty. GRRRR!”

Weed spent a whole month to produce two statues in the province of Mora. The Ice Dragon sculpture was the pinnacle of his skill. An enormous, magnificent statue, no less amazing than the effects it gave.

“Why did I not take the statue with me!?”

Of course, Weed was not thinking about the statue of the Ice Dragon, but of the Ice Beauty. After all, if a statue capable of increasing the recovery speed of health and mana were to sell, there would be a huge profit.

Furthermore, the effects of the statue operate independently, and if you use another bracelet, ring or buff, their effects would stack.

It’s true that the statue it was made out of ice and would eventually melt. However, if you use a spell, you could preserve it. God knows how much he could have made if it was sold.

“Ahhh… I’m too good, simple and honest. Now I’m losing money because of it!”

Weed hit the ground, jumped and shouted in anger, but it was too late. He chose a path of a good and honest man. Weed thought that he was a fool. He would rather be cruel, and dishonest, but rich and shameless. An honest life was not worth pursuing.

“It’s never too late to become a villain.” Though his discontent of being a sculptor was not completely gone, seeing the advantages, he would not give it up. Weed was once again set on the goal of life.

While Weed lamented, Alveron and the priests who returned with him to the Order of the Freya, stood and watched his strange behavior with frowning and frightened expressions. They were backing away slowly; even NPCs ignored weed

“Ahem…” Weed tidied his clothes in order to fabricate the image of a hero who punishes evildoers and administers the divine punishment and spreads the glory of the Goddess… “Well, we should go see the High Priest”

Surrounded by Priests, Weed entered the church. This time, he entered through the side entrance so he did not have to go through a line of players donating for the prayers of the Priests. Inside the church, the High Priest was already waiting for him.

Weed took out the pure white crown, sublimated with precious stones. As he handed it to the High Priest, he solemnly said: “Crown of Fargo, returned”.

“Ooh! Thank you; you truly are the savior of the order! First you returned the cup of Freya, now the Crown of Fargo”

Nine levels for the completion of a quest of B rank difficulty. Weed was pleased. He spent several months suffering trying to get the crown of Fargo, the artifact was not easy to recover.

The High Priest gave Weed 30 potions with white and red liquids.

“The Order of Freya is grateful to you. Here some Holy Water and some high-end health recovery potions”

“Oh, thank you…”

“I know that it’s meager but I’m sure that they’ll be useful during an emergency.”

“Thank you”

Weed carefully took the gifts and placed them inside his bag.

Potions were expensive, and Weed had never used them before. At the moment, health potions in the game were usually used by bandits and murderers such as Dvichis. Ordinary players wouldn’t normally use potions because as their level rose so did their health, and therefore required more expensive potions.

People that used potions during hunting were very little. Very few people used potions while hunting, but the fact that they can help in an emergency was true. That is why almost every player had a few potions in case of emergency.

“Also let me give you some armor.”

Weed, received similar rewards from returning the Holy Grail, ranging from armor to the sword of Agatha.

“So, rewards for returning the relics do not change. You just earn some money.”

But the priest was not finished.

“This item has long gathered dust in the treasury, with your profession – a Sculptor; it should be useful to you.”

When Weed’s hand received the unknown object, the first thing he wanted to do was check it out. It would have been bad if there were a curse or something on it.

“Identify!”

Weed fell thoughtfully silent.

For doing a Rank B quest he expected to get something special. It was not that the object parameters were bad. The thing that set him off was the name of the creator, Deukalam, one of the Versailles continent’s Master Sculptor, and his belt was now in Weed’s hands.

However, Weed was somewhat disappointed. The belt would only be worth 10,000 won. Due to the lack of engravers the belt’s effects would be useless to the public. Instead, if he ran off with the crown it could have been sold for 1.1 million won.

Without waiting for an answer, the High Priest continued:

“You have our most heartfelt thanks. May the blessings of the Goddess always be with you. If you suddenly get hurt or come under the effects of a curse, at any time refer to the priests of the Order and we will provide free help. And now, you can use the teleportation gates at any Freya Chapel at your own convenience.

“Thank you.”

The High Priest took a deep breath. It seems that all this time he was thinking about something else.

“The three relics, three symbols: prosperity, power, and wealth – all came back. Now the Goddess, as before, illuminates the path of Holy Warriors. Strength of Paladins and Priests has been restored with authority, force, and divine power, and now we can fight on equal terms with the forces of evil. But the undead also does not sleep, in recent reports a Paladin said that in the barren northern lands, there is going to be a new army of the followers of Balkan.”

“The Dark Army of the Lich King is gathering the undead, death knights, and other evil spirits of the continent. Moreover, lured by the promise of immortality, many join the army of their free will and soon they will become unstoppable. The more soldiers that die from battle with evil spirits, the quicker the enemy grows.”

“After the first reports about the revival of the army, there were new reports of increased activity of necromancers worshiping the Dark God. Such activity indicates only one thing: the forces of evil are back in the lands of the Versailles continent. Something is coming.”

Ttiring!

Weed sighed, again another Rank B quest

“Well, at least this time there is no time limit,” H said as he sighed sadly.

The land of Despair was located somewhere North-East of The Rosenheim Kingdom. It would be a long walk to get there, and there would certainly be a lot of dangerous monsters.

In general, that would just be the beginning.

Up to this day, they had not been a single accurate map of the continent of Versailles, but even in the few odd jobs made by players, the area of ??Plains of Despair was far larger than one of the largest and most powerful kingdoms in the center of the continent: The Kingdom of Brent.

“I’ll deal with the dark necromancers.”

“Thank you, soldier!” The High Priest said happily.

After that phrase the priest no longer reacted to the presence of Weed, and Weed quietly left the Order.

* * *

Mapan completed a transaction in a nearby village, and slowly returned to Somreun Liberty City. It was at that moment he heard a familiar voice, one that he dearly missed.

“Hey, Mapan…”

“Yes? Oh, Weed! I thought you died. Where are you now?”

“All ended well. I am at the church of Freya, come here.”

“All right, already running”

Mapan ran like the wind. In just 10 minutes he got to the temple. After all Weed just returned from a Rank B quest. Mapan did not even bother to sell his goods. He just threw his cart in a rented place and ran to the temple. Not alone though, he came with a beautiful girl.

Mapan had thousands of questions in his head, but etiquette didn’t allow him to ask them, he first introduced his companion.

“Weed this is Hwaryeong, my companion.”

“Nice to meet you, my name is Weed.”

“Hello. I heard a lot about you”

During Weed’s absence Mapan found a colleague to travel with, however, she had a very unusual profession.

“Weed, you will be surprised. Hwaryeong is a dancer.”

“She’s a dancer?”

Hwaryeong gave a cute smile, she said:

“Consider me as a colleague. Instead of sculpting, I dance which buffs my party, and distracts enemies.

“Is it difficult perhaps?”

“No! On the contrary, it is interesting. I like to dance.”

The main feature of a dancer was to stun the enemy. When she started to dance, monsters lose morale and jaws dropped frozen in a daze. We can say this is one of the hidden classes in the game.

Intriguingly, she can stun enemies far greater than her level which was 175. However the cost of stunning many enemies was high; a lot of mana is consumed.

The downside in her profession included weak attack and defense abilities. She was armed with only a small knife, and when the dancing stopped, the monsters quickly regained senses, so without a party to go hunting with, was very hard. Although in a group, her talent shone.

Mapan said that while Weed was gone, they traveled together to the nearby village, and when monsters attacked, Hwaryeong would dance, robbing the enemy of their desire to fight, while Mapan quickly managed the cart and ran away.

“A sculptor, trader and now a dancer… It just gets better and better” Weed thought

* * *

On the pages of the Royal Road website there was a legend: The convergence of artisan and other professions.

Supposedly a few players with unpopular professions had come together in a group. When they stick together, they were able to maximize each other’s individual abilities and perform duties to their fullest potential. They could defeat any monster and perform any task, and thus a legend was born.

Where the legend came from and how reliable it was, nobody knows; it was just one of the parables that people heard from walking to one city to another during the early days of Royal Road.

“And maybe it’s just a fairy tale.”

Monsters would usually target the biggest threat, and they, in turn would destroy the monster. As a result they would be the first to increase their levels and the first to get the loot.

That’s why players with low combat characteristics quickly lagged behind. In the group, they were mostly useless and, in fact, harmful, as party members had to look after them.

“Phew …”

Mapan sighed and went to Weed and whispered in his ear:

“I heard your Lion’s Roar technique is unique and powerful compared to other players”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. But not dance. Do you know what dance Hwaryeong is doing?”

“What is it?”

“Korean Strip Dance”

“Oh…” Weed coughed. “Korean Strip Dance performed when approached by Orcs or Ogres!”

Hwaryeong’s cheeks turned crimson red.

“Some time ago, I often went to the clubs … I loved dancing, and now I cannot stop.”

“ …”

“That’s it!”

But Mapan could no longer restrain himself from asking and said: “Well, tell me, where you spent the past 3 months? What kind of quest was it? Did you succeed?”

Weed smiled. “Soon you will know about it.”

“Huh?”

It all started in Mora:

“Did you hear about the adventurer Weed? He did a great job. He returned the Crown of Fargo! Imagine…”

“You can say that the clan of vampires has been a major force Balkan! They say that Weed the Warrior, with the perfect harmony of faith and art, dealt with them!”

“You’ve heard about this Weed?”

Markets, shops, parking carts, taverns, hotels and Guilds – all NPCs started talking about Weed. After some time they even started talking about it in the British Confederation:

“It is said that in Mora there was a significant event. Weed has done a great service to the Order of Freya …”

“A man by the name of Weed ….”

“Weed …”

Then the news came to the kingdom of Rosenheim.

“You know Weed came from our kingdom? What? You have not heard of him? Then listen …”

Even the NPCs in the country and Thorne, Harpan, Falamor were discussing Weed’s feat.

* * *

Lee Hyun logged out of Royal Road and climbed out of the capsule. The first thing Lee Hyun did was access the auction site and opened the mail.

His mail box only consists of one message:

“We invite you to the Dark Alliance of Gamers.

In order to prevent information from being leaked out to the public, we carefully select a group of people to join our alliance. Information will be given inside Royal Road, in the vast continent of Versailles, or in reality.

Our Dark Gamers Union exists wherever there are dark places. We would like to meet and talk to you wherever you like. We will try to understand each other, and if we decide that we can benefit from each other; we can be good partners”

Lee Hyun ignored the letter and began to create a new ad on auction.

All that can be sold for money needs to be sold immediately because in Royal Road there was also a market economy and the prices would go down with time. This was inevitable, since the number of players reaching level 200 increases over time, consequently so does number of high-end products. Although the demand also increases, it was not enough to compensate for the price.

The armor of vampires, found in the province of Mora, Lee set the starting price at 100,000 won and ending price at 400,000 won.

“I think that is normal. Not cheap but not expensive and at the same time it suits me.”

He started with armor, since there were two sets. But then he added more…

“I think I can sell the sword and the ring of Pontiff Agatha at a higher price.”

Ordinary objects had a determined market price, but the prices on unique and rare items varied greatly. It all depended on the number of people in need of the object. If there is a demand – the price is high.

“It’d be good if it sells…”

Lee Hyun posted the ad on the site, and left.

Overnight there was a tense debate.

“This is it! More precisely, it is!”

“Well, nobody else on the auction site had a triple diamond rating, and the same nickname.”

“Weed! Weed is selling real products from Royal Road.”

“Wow! This is interesting!”

After selling his game account on the Continent of Magic Weed became a well-known figure.

Having bought his account, CST Media released a series of programs about the Continent of Magic, and now there was no one who was interested in games that did not know about Weed.

And with exactly the same login was Lee Hyun on an online auction site.

Players remembered him and, of course, followed.

Lee Hyun tried several times to sell goods, but they were never as good as this. Dark Knight’s armor was as rare as a raincoat, but the boots and gloves vampires…

“St. Agatha’s Sword! Rose patterned gloves! Pope’s ring! All of them are from the Order of Freya, exclusive equipment used by paladins”

Gloves were common in the game, so they weren’t worth much. However, the Holy Sword of Agatha – was a very rare and sought after item because of its buffs and high durability. Plus you could use its “Holy Blessing” five times a day.

Some people looking at the sales history noticed this and began spreading the word.

Soon it began to spread like a wind to almost all gaming sites. The main message was that Weed from the Land of Magic Weed also played Royal Road and was selling items from the Order of Freya.

At once and huge number of people went to the auction.

“Come on, did Weed join the Order of Freya?”

“Has he become a Paladin?”

“If you take into account the entire continent, not even a hundred players have managed to become paladins of Freya. In addition, while it is not hard to get into the Knights of the Court, to be a paladin of the Order of Freya is almost impossible.”

“It’s Weed! Even in the Royal Road he’s ahead of it.”

People in the comments texted each other. They were pleased and surprised that Weed also played Royal Road.

However, some players openly confessed their disappointment.

“If this is the Weed from the Continent of Magic, we are playing with a legend.”

“Exactly, it seemed that for him, nothing was impossible. He overcame even the most dangerous dungeons. Where he went, there was not a monster left. For us who remember his achievements…”

“He always walked alone but now he’s just some paladin in the Order of Freya. This is just below our expectations.

“Yes. He was one of the best players in the Continent of Magic, but now he’s just some gray participant in the Order of Freya. Know that … Now I am no longer interested in him.

“Good for Weed, but I expected more. And heroes are aging …”

Comments flowed like a river, the views often expressed totally opposite. After selling his COM account, Weed has become a gaming symbol in Korea. And now to learn that Weed was a paladin of the Order of Freya, there was some joy and some disappointment. He was now in one of the strongest associations of the world, but still not the invincible hero he was before.

Gradually people lost interest in the items. However, although the people discussed Weed, the prices were rising.

At this point, there was one person who wrote in the comments:

“I just came from the Royal Road.”

Ordinary people who typed messages were flamed.

“Who asked you?”

“Well, this goes back to anyone not interested.”

Cynical comments lined up in an instant. Then the man who wrote the first very short text, answered in detail.

“In the Royal Road, about five hours ago, all NPCs in the continent of Versailles have begun to talk about Weed. He allegedly dealt with the vampire clan that in the past was part of the immortal army Balkan. Now all the NPCs talk about his adventures and how he found the sacred relics of the Order of Freya. If this is our Weed, I’m in shock …”

“What’s did you say? Balkan’s immortal army?”

“That’s one of the most powerful forces in the Royal Road, is it not?”

“It’s impossible; a normal vampire is above level 270. And their leader Lord Tori was above level 400!”

“It can’t be! I don’t believe it.”

People could not believe the report. But everyone knew that to get the sacred objects of the Order of Freya and to destroy the vampires was a very difficult quest, designed for a high-level group of players.

It was impossible to believe that one person could cope with this task. However, the evidence was before our eyes. Items that were only for Paladins and ring from the Pope! The armor was something you could get just by joining the Order, but the ring was something you could only get after a doing a great service.

Besides, there was even more reliable evidence—loot from vampires; with the vampire boots, and coats, all doubt was removed.

Lee Hyun slept for four hours and woke before sunrise. He quickly got dressed and went to the market to get food for breakfast and packed lunch for his sister to take to school. Of course the school has its own dining area, but in recent years almost no one ate there. The portions were very small, and the food wasn’t promising. If she suddenly gets food poisoning… No…

“Now it is an important time for her to not to hurt…”– for this Lee Hyun sacrificed his own meals.

His sister is working hard preparing for her exams and he had to prepare the best nutrition. In addition to that, he has to help her not feel left out due to their lack of parents. So in the process of preparing for the meal, he put in his heart and soul in it.

Like a fish in water, he went through all the rows of shops and markets, bargaining, and bought fresh vegetables and meat. During the day the market would be packed, and the food would not be fresh, so he always came early in the morning. Every time he would greet all the vendors so they were eager to sell their products at lower prices.

Lee was not an experience cook, but due to Royal Road, he felt confident in his abilities. So confident that he thinks he’s ready to work in a restaurant.

Yawn “Oppa, good morning.”

“Just woke up?”

When Hyun returned from the market, his sister left the room, rubbing her eyes.

“Clean yourself up, or you’ll be late for school.”

“Don’t worry there’s still plenty of time.”

“Don’t be lazy. All the same you will have to do so quickly, quickly march to the bathroom.”

“Fine! You’re always nagging. And you! Have you prepared for the GED exam?”

Lee Hyun promised his grandmother to get a general education diploma. But, in truth, he had never opened a book. During the exam preparations, instead of studying the geography of Korea, he studied the geography of the continent of Versailles. And instead of studying the history of Korea, he studied the history of Royal Road. After all, if you want to achieve something in the game, information is one of the components of success. However, he couldn’t tell his sister that.

“Of course! I worked hard, do not worry.”

If you think about it, he technically did work hard.

“Mmmm. Okay, I won’t.”

While his sister washed up, Lee cooked breakfast.

Winter came and the street was cold, so he prepared a hot, chilly winter spicy organic gruel, 5 grain rice, and even different salads.

“Bon Appetit”

After his sister went to school, he had a few moments of free time to spare.

“It’s time to check on the price of the items.”

Lee Hyun connected to the auction site.

“What the…”

Due to newbies spamming comments, the page number for the sword of Agatha was immense. Lee Hyun expected the Holy Sword of Agatha to sell for 2 million won even in the worst case scenario. However, the price only exceeded a little over 230,000 won. What kind of nonsense is this?

Disturbed, Lee Hyun went to see comments.

“Weed, you are great! I really want to wear your items, but I have no money, so I decided to participate in this way though.”

The person who wrote the text set the starting price at 500 won. In general, the initial price was not important, because many people would participate in the auction and just put 500 to 1500 won.

“Congratulations on completing the Freya quest. Live up to your legend in the Continent of Magic!”

The second person who posted the text bid 501 won.

Then everyone else followed suit.

“Weed good luck! 502 won”

“Weed, you’re cool! 503 won”

“Respect. Keep it up! 504 won”

“Oh, you’re already in the new game, right? 505 won.”

“Haha! That’s interesting. I also take part. 506 won.”

“Oh, whoa, whoa… 601 won.”

“Hey! Follow the sequence. 602 won.”

A lot of people took part in the bid, so the interest began to grow and passers-by, who were unaware of Weed, heard the rumors and went to participate.

“Ah! Weed, the man who’s the object of so many rumors.”

“He became a monk?”

After a while the number of people who visited the page had reached 90,000 people but the price only rose to 120,000 won.

Even excluding repetitions in rates, the auction was attended by over 60,000 people. News of their favorite hero caused more people to join

“Hey! Who is this coward who bid 200,000 won?”

“If you fail to comply with the sequence, I promise I’ll find you. Next time, be careful. We’ll start again with 200,001 won.”

“Let’s try to get to 1 million won!”