Vol 04 - Chap 01: Plains of Despair

Chapter 1 : Plains of Despair

"That guy is weird. What is he doing?"

"Maybe he's crazy? He looks crazy too."

"Let's keep walking"

Residents of the city feared and avoided the man. They thought that if they approach him, something bad would happen.

That man was Weed.

He was throwing a tantrum.

"AAAAAHHHHH!"

His crazy improbable jumps and screams scared away the pedestrians. It was a good thing though that he was hidden between the two churches of Freya. If this had happened in the middle of a busy street, then it would have long been posted on YouTube.

"Ouuuuuuuu!" Weed even burst into tears as he finished.

"I missed my chance!"

At Morata, Weed returned through the teleportation gates, and when the glow of the spatial gap left behind him, it hit him.

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

Weed had spent a whole month to produce two statues in the province of Morata.

The Dragon sculpture was the pinnacle of his skill. An enormous, magnificent statue, no less amazing than the effects it gave.

"Why didn't I take you 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 line.

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

True, it was made of ice and would eventually melt, but if you use a spell, you could preserve it.

God knows how much he could make if it sells.

"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 not 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 set on the goal of his life again.

While Weed lamented, Alveron and the priests who returned with him to the Order of Freya stood and watched his crazy shouts and jumps.

With frowning and frightened faces, they slowly retreated back.

Even NPCs shunned Weed.

"Ahem ..."

Weed tidied his clothes back in order to the image of the hero, who punishes evil deeds and administers the glory of the goddess.

"Well, we should go see the High Priest"

Surrounded by priests, Weed entered the church.

This time, he did not have to go across the hall donations.

The High Priest was waiting for him.

Weed took out a crown, a pure white crown, sublimed with precious stones.

"Crown of Fargo returned" Weed said solemnly as he handed it to the high priest.

"Ooh! Thank you, the savior of the order. First the cup of Freya, and now the Crown of Fargo."

You have completed the quest "Return the Crown of Fargo."

Last relic of the goddess, that the Order lost during the unrest. The dark vampire clan, led by Tori treacherously seized and held the sacred crown in the province of Morata. They dominated the northern lands, hoarding power as they awaited the return of the dark sorcerer Balkan. Destruction of the vampire clan has led to a serious weakening of the forces of the dark army.

Crown of Fargo – is a symbol of divine power and majesty of the Order.

Returning the crown back, you have greatly increased the status of the Order.

- Fame increased by 1200.

- Familiarity with the Order raised by 31.

- Influence of the Order increased by 2200. The Order of Freya can now be found in the state religion

- Influence of the Order of Freya: 4612

- Your level has increased

- Your level has increased

- Your level has increased

- Your level has increased

- Your level has increased

- Your level has increased

- Your level has increased

- Your level has increased

- Your level has increased

Nine levels for the implementation of a single job. Weed was pleased. He spent several months suffering trying to get the Crown of Fargo, so we can say, the artifact was not easy.

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

"The Order of Freya is grateful to you. Here are the best health potions we can offer and some holy water vials."

"Oh, thank you ..."

"It's not much, but I ask you to take them. These potions can help in case of an emergency."

"Thank you"

Weed carefully took the gifts and transferred them into 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 Dvichi. Ordinary players wouldn't normally use potions because as their level rose so did their health, and therefore required more effective and more expensive potions.

People that used potions during hunting were very few. 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 an armor."

Weed, like last time, got the same things ranging from armor to the Sword of Agatha.

"So, the rewards for the return of 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."

You have received an unknown belt.

When the hands of Weed received the unknown object, the first thing he wanted to do was check it out. It would be bad if there was a curse or something on it.

"Identify!"

Red Wyvern Leather belt:

Durability: 60/60

Defense 22.

Belt leather of flying wyverns. Red Wyverns are very rare, some even doubt their existence. Wearing a belt is of great interest for many adventurers.

The leather belt is durable, strong, lightweight and comfortable. Firmly fixed to the body it allows you to conveniently position the tools of the sculptor.

In the centre of the belt are remarkable wyverns figures, made by master Deykramom.

Requirements: 

Level 150. 

Job sculptor.

Effects: 

Charisma +15. 

Strength +10. 

Agility +30. 

Reputation 30.

Sculptural design + 7%.

When the belt is worn, any sculpture made additionally gives 5 fame.

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, Deykrama, one of the 5 great masters of Versailles continent.

And his belt was now in the hands of Weed.

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:

"Our heartfelt thanks to you. May the blessings of the goddess be always 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, at any time you can use the teleportation gates at any Freya chapel."

"Thank you."

The high priest took a deep breath.

It seems that all this time he was thinking about something.

"The three relics, three symbols: prosperity, power and wealth – came back. Now the Goddess, as before, illuminates the path of holy warriors. Strength of paladins and priests are returned to their previous level, 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 undead, death knights and other evil spirits of the continent. Moreover, lured by the promise of immortality, many hev joined the army of their free will and soon they will become unstoppable. The more the soldiers that die from battle with evil spirits, the quicker the enemy grows.

"After the initial reports about the revival of the army came new reports of increased activity of necromancers worshiping the dark gods. Such activity indicates only one thing: the forces of evil are back in the land of the Versailles continent. Something is coming."

Ding!

A new quest!

Dark forces were revived in the Plains of Despair.

Necromancers, servants of Balkan and the Dark God Beelzebub, began gathering a new army of undead. It is not known if necromancers who serve in a temple of light, came to worship the dark god, but if it happens, they, like the rebels, will be sent to the dark elves in the Plains of Despair.

Find and kill these apostates. Do not let them build a new army of undead.

If you go to temples of Rosenheim Kingdom, you will find immense information and a band of men for the job.

Difficulty: B.

Reward: unknown.

Penalty for refusal or failure of the task: Relations with the Order of Freya will drop to 0. Fame will decrease by -3000.

Weed sighed, again another Rank B quest

"Well, at least this time there is no time limit," – he sighed sadly.

The Plains 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, there had not been a single accurate map of the continent of Versailles, but even in the few odd jobs done by players, the area of ??Plains of Despair was much more than one of the largest and most powerful kingdoms in the centre of the continent: The Aytern Kingdom.

"I'll deal with the dark necromancers."

You accepted the quest.

"Thank you, soldier!" the priest said happily.

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

Mapan completed a transaction in a nearby village, and slowly returned to the Liberty City. It was at that moment he heard a

familiar voice, which he missed.

"Hey, Mapan ..."

"Yes? Oh, Weed! I really thought you were dead. 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 had just returned from a rank B quest. He 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."

"Dancer?"

Giving a cute smile, Hwaryeong 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.

Most interesting is that she can stun enemies far greater than her level which was 175. In return for dazzling a lot of monsters, it consumed a lot of mana.

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 consciousness; so with no group to go hunting with it was very hard. However, in a group she shone.

Mapan said that while Weed was gone, they travelled together to the adjacent land, and when monsters attacked, Hwaryeong would dance depriving their desire to fight, while Mapan quickly manage the cart and run away.

"A sculptor, trader and now a dancer ... The farther into the forest, more the wood." – thought Weed.

On the pages of the Royal Road website there was a legend.

A cohesion of artisan and other professions.

Supposedly, a few players with unpopular professions had come together in a group. They explored each other's capabilities and thus repeatedly rise by the group. They could beat any monster, perform any task while they are all together. That's such a legend.

Where it came from and how reliable it was, nobody knows. Just one of the parables, walking from one part to another of the opening game.

"Or 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 a teammate had to look after them.

"Phew ..."

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

"I heard your roar of a lion is as efficient as the different techniques of different players."

"Oh, really?"

"Yes. But not dance, Hwaryeong, you know what she's dancing?"

"What's that?"

"Korean Strip Dance"

"Oh..."

Weed coughed.

"Korean Strip Dance" -perform when approached by Orcs or ogres!

Hwaryeong cheeks were crimson.

"One time, I often went to the clubs ... I loved dancing, and now I cannot stop."

" ....."

"That's it!"

But Mapan but could not restrain himself and asked:

"Well, tell me, where did you spend those 3 months? What kind of quest was it?"

Weed smiled.

"Soon you will know about it."

" Huh?"

It all started in Morata:

"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 had been a major force of Balkan! They say that Weed the Warrior, with the perfect harmony of faith and art, dealt with them!"

"Have you 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 Morata 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 out of our kingdom? What? You have not heard of him? Then listen ..."

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

Coming out of the capsule, the first thing Lee Hyun did was connect to the auction site and opened the mail.

The mail box had only one new message:

"We invite you to the dark alliance of gamers.

In order to keep this information secret, we send emails to only carefully selected group of persons. All the details are given in person in the vast continent of Versailles or in reality. As our dark gamers union exists wherever there are dark places, we would like to meet and talk wherever you like. We will try to understand each other and if we decide that we can benefit from each other, then 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, you need to quickly implement. Because in the Royal Road there was also a market economy, and the price could go down with time. This was inevitable since the number of players reaching 200 went up, consequently so did an increased number of products.

Although so did the demand, it was not enough to raise the price.

For the armor of vampires, extracted in the province of Morata, Lee Hyun set the starting price at 100,000 won and end at 400,000 won.

"I think that is normal. Not cheap but neither 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 predetermined market price, but on unique or rare items their pricewas not fixed. It all depended on the number of people in need of the object. If there is demand – the price is high.

"It would be good to sell ..."

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

There was a tense debate overnight.

"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 Knights armor were as special as a raincoat, but the boots and gloves vampires...

"St. Agatha's sword! Gloves with a rose pattern! Pope's ring! All of them from the Order of Freya. Things that used by paladins"

Gloves were common in the game, so they weren't worth much. However, the 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 a 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, it does not even make up a hundred people who are paladins of the Order 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 is 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 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 expressing totally opposite. After selling the account, Weed had 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.

"What? someone asked.

"Well, this goes back to anyone not interested."

Hard, cold lines immediately formed a ticker. 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 have begun to talk about Weed. He allegedly dealt with the vampire clan, that in the past were part of the immortal army of Balkan. Now all the NPCs talk about his adventures and how he found the sacred objects of the Order of Freya. If this is our Weed, I'm in shock ..."

"What's that 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 cannot be! I don't believe it."

People could not believe the report, but the seed of doubt has already produced sprouts.

Everyone knew that to get the sacred objects of the Order of Freya and destroy vampires was a very difficult task, designed for 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 lunch for school for his sister. Of course the school had its own dining area, but in recent years almost no one ate there. It gave very small portions and the food was not credible. If she suddenly gets poisoned...no...

"Now is an important period to not get ill ..." – Lee Hyun thought deeply.

In order to prepare for the exams Hyun had to do his best. In addition, he must also see that that she does not feel left out due to their lack of parents, so in the process of preparing he put in his heart and soul.

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 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 was ready to work in a restaurant.

"Yeah! Brother, good morning."

"Just woke up?"

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

"Clean yourself up; 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 swearing. And you! Have you prepared for the exam?"

Lee Hyun had promised his grandmother to get a certificate of general education. But in truth, he had never opened the book. During the preparations for the opening he studied the geography of the continent of Versailles. Instead of studying the history of Korea's, he studied the history of Royal Road. After all, if you want to achieve something in the game, information is one of the parameters of success.

However, he could not tell his sister.

"Of course! I am working hard, do not worry."

If you think about it, he technically was working hard.

"Mmmm. Okay, I won't."

While his sister washed, Lee Hyun cooked breakfast.

Winter came and the street was cold, so he prepared a hot, bubbling stew and rice in five cereals, and even different salads.

"Bon Appetit."

After his sister went to school, he had a few to spare.

"It's time to check on the price of the items."

Lee Hyun joined the auction site.

"What the ..."

Due to newbies, the page number for the sword of Agatha was immense, however the price only exceeded a little over 230,000 won ($230 US). What kind of nonsense is this, even in the worst case, Lee Hyun expected to sell the blade for 2 million won ($2000 US).

Disturbed, he went to see comments.

"Mr. 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. ($0.50 – $1.50 US)

"Congratulations on your quest. Live up to your legend in the Continent of Magic!"

The second person who posted the text bid $501 won. ($0.501 US)

Then everyone else followed suit.

"Mr. Weed, good luck! 502 won ($0.502 US)

"Weed, you're cool! 503 won"

"Respect. Keep it up! 504 won"

"Oh, you're already in the new game, right? 505 won."

"Ha ha! That's interesting. I will also take part. 506 won."

"Oh, how, how ... 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 subject of so many rumors."

"He became a monk?"

After a while the number of people who visited the page reached 90,000 people. The price rose to 120,000 won. ($120 US)

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." ($200 US)

"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!" ($1000 US)