The Ruined World Was Mistaken for a Game-Chapter 20.1: Leon (1)
Translator: Dreamscribe
After escaping from the Land of Erosion, Jinwoo inspected Evanth and the temporary villages. As the one responsible for Arsilan Saga, it was essential to check for any unusual occurrences.
Through the information window linked to the Magic Tower, several s came in. According to Tia, there were many NPCs who wanted to participate. As Rainsword’s food culture and lifestyle became more abundant, the image of the Heroes also improved.
‘Of course...’
It wasn't that there weren't any players engaging in malicious activities, but there were fewer than Jinwoo had expected. Perhaps it was because this wasn't an ordinary game but a virtual reality game where people faced each other directly.
All player actions were being recorded at the Magic Tower, and a prohibition was in place preventing them from acting recklessly toward NPCs. Evanth was relatively peaceful with Heina, who had endured the Erosion, keeping a tight grip on things.
‘It’s all helpful.’
The fights between players did contribute to improving combat skills.
In fact, PK incidents even happened outside of Evanth.
Inside Evanth, the guards handled such matters, but outside, the system encouraged players to resolve it on their own using bounties and wanted orders.
Jinwoo reviewed the bounty records.
[Bounty Record]
*5 hours ago, the Northern Grand Duke eliminated DevilWashKing (Crime: Sex Parrot). (TL: Sex Parrot - It refers to a person who shouts sex out loud.)
Reward: Contribution Points +5, Bounty 40 Gold
(Punishment: Penalty Points 10, Underground Jail Imprisonment 3 days, Muted for 10 days.)
*1 hour ago, the Northern Grand Duke eliminated Killing Machine (Crime: Unauthorized PK).
Reward: Contribution Points +10, Bounty 60 Gold
(Punishment: Penalty Points 20, Underground Jail Imprisonment 4 days.)
The bounty record was linked to the ‘Evanth Chat Room’.
[Welcome to the Evanth Chat Room. (Admin: Heina)]
*Note from Heina: The Northern Grand Duke may have a rough personality, but she is an excellent talent. I look forward to her future.
Hero Rating: A.
└Tia (Receptionist, Supervisor): Does she take assassination requests too?
└Heina: Is there a problem?
└Tia: A Hero claiming to be the Legendary Bard has appeared, but he's a terrible singer! Dragon Born? Dovahkiin? Woo! Ha! Ha! He sings strange songs!
└Heina: (Emoticon: Surprised Heina)
Hallon (Dark Priest): It’s boring being alone. May I come watch?
└Tia: Stay where you are.
└Hallon: Okay. (Emoticon: Crying Skull)
Airi (Saintess): His muscles are beautiful.
Hasman (Village Chief, Mastermind): Back in my youth, I too conquered wild plains, deserts, grasslands, and snowy mountains with just a single axe like that warrior. Today’s youngsters lack that kind of spirit. You should push forward with the kind of passion that says you can do anything with just a piece of bread....
(Heina-nim forcibly removed Hasman-nim. Entry banned: 1 day)
└Hallon: ㅋㅋㅋ
└Thomson (Blacksmith): ㅋㅋㅋ he’s at it again
└Airi: Heh.
“Hm.”
Everyone was making good use of the various systems added to Arsilan Saga. Emoticons had been prepared simply for the players, but it was actually the NPCs who frequently used them.
They seemed to have been gradually influenced from interacting with the Heroes.
Was it a good sign?
Well, as long as they were having fun.
Jinwoo nodded.
First, let’s offer them some encouragement.
Jinwoo (Leon): Good job, everyone. This is just the beginning, so let’s give it our best.
└Tia: (Emoticon: Kissing mwah mwah!)
└Tiris (Magic Tower Administrator): LeonPreciousPrecious.
└Heina: Sir!
└Airi: Save me.
└Hallon: I am lonely, but perhaps this too is a trial of light.
.
...
....
Every single NPC left a comment without exception.
“Hm....”
Somehow, he felt like he had become a department head at a company.
At any rate, Jinwoo hoped that the strength accumulated from player competition would be used to subjugate the Erosion. Of course, it would be far better if they could positively influence Arsilan while enjoying romance and adventure rather than just fighting.
A second life was not something easily obtained.
“Well then, shall we begin?”
Jinwoo linked to the Magic Tower and pulled up the map.
The map created with magic was simplified for easy recognition. Evanth, the temporary villages, and the real-time locations of all players and NPCs were displayed.
With Leon’s appearance, the first content leading into the main quest, “Corrupted Goblin Village”, was set to be updated.
There was a player who could promote the story progression the most effectively. It was Haebyul, who possessed an A-rank trait. This was also why she had been intentionally selected.
[Adventurer’s Guild] Goblin Investigation
Goblins have appeared in the peaceful forest. Rumor has it that unusual types of goblins have also shown up, so let’s investigate.
*Tia’s Advice: It’s best to go fully armed!
Participants: Unlimited
Grade: Hard
Reward: Tia Affinity +5, Contribution Points +10, 30 Gold.
At the right timing, a request was sent through the Adventurer’s Guild to lure people into the forest, and now she was mixed among several players, searching the woods.
‘There she is.’
Jinwoo quickly located Haebyul in the forest.
Upon checking her login time, he found she had been fully logged in aside from time required for daily activities.
Her stream viewers already exceeded an average of 800,000.
A significant portion were foreigners.
Though she was streaming on a domestic platform, foreigners were enduring severe buffering to watch it. They couldn’t join the chat due to account restrictions, but still, the number of foreign viewers steadily increased. Had she been streaming on YouTube, the view count would easily be in the millions.
Jinwoo climbed up a tree and watched Haebyul’s broadcast.
Haebyul was glancing around, looking for goblins.
“They said they saw goblins around here....”
-Yeah yeah. You'll find them a bit deeper inside.
-Are you going to become a swordsman if you pick up a ranked sword?
Jinwoo had handed a ranked sword to a goblin, one of the normal monsters created by the Magic Tower, and released it into the forest. The durability was high enough to withstand enchantments, so among all existing items, it would be the rarest so far.
-Isn’t magic the flower of fantasy?
-Magic’s apparently super hard. Streamer’s too dumb for it.
-ㅋㅋ she said she hates math!
“I just hate stuff that hurts my head! I’ll just shoot arrows or something.”
Haebyul bickered while watching the chat window.
Jinwoo looked at Haebyul and reached out his hand. It was to trigger a scene created with Illusion Magic.
He activated preset 4 of the pre-saved illusion scenes.
“Huh? What’s this?”
-What just happened?
-Fog?
-Something’s off! Something feels really off!
As the forest quickly darkened, Haebyul and the players flinched.
Growwwl!
A wolf’s growl was heard,
Crack! Kyaaaaagh!
With the sound of a body being crushed, a chilling howl shook the forest.
Crunch crunch!
As the sound of flesh being devoured echoed from all directions, Haebyul and the players froze in place.
‘Ah, that’s not right.’
It was a minor mistake.
Jinwoo quickly switched the illusion scene to preset 3.
The sounds gradually faded, and fog began to spread throughout the forest. Haebyul and the players gulped nervously as they scanned their surroundings.
As the mood settled, Jinwoo drew a Teleportation Magic Circle deep within the forest.
Rrrrumble!
The Teleportation Magic Circle, installed outside the Magic Barrier, activated and moved the entire Corrupted Goblin Village.
The Core of Erosion tried to erase the magic circle, but it was already too late.
The magic circle wasn’t easily erased by the Erosion, as if drawn with a permanent marker. It was a technique learned through fighting the Erosion for a hundred years.
“Kkiek?”
“Bruk?”
The corrupted goblins were startled by the sudden environmental change and left their village to scour the forest. Their connection to the Core of Erosion had been severed, so they began acting on instinct.
‘Five should be enough.’
When Jinwoo snapped his fingers, five corrupted goblins were teleported near Haebyul and the other players. The goblins glanced around and began sniffing the air.
“Kieeek!”
“Kiek!”
Foaming at the mouth and raising their weapons, the corrupted goblins began charging like mad. They had spotted the players nearby.
What drove them was hatred toward life and soul.
“Goblins?”
"Waaah! W-what is this!"
“It’s a goblin! But it’s huge and purple? Is it an elite mob?”
The corrupted goblins rushed at the players like bulldozers. Even though the players had grown and become accustomed to Arsilan, the corrupted goblins were powerful.
“Urgh!”
One player wielding a blunt weapon was mercilessly slaughtered and fell, while another, who had been preparing a spell from behind, barely managed to cast it.
He was the first to reach the rank of ‘Apprentice Mage’ due to his outstanding talent.
“Fireball!”
Kwahhh!
The fireball struck the charging corrupted goblin’s body.
With a loud explosion, the corrupted goblin was pushed back significantly.
“Kieeeeeek!”
But it wasn’t enough to eliminate it. With a body scorched black, the corrupted goblin charged again.
The mage player panicked and tried to cast another spell. But before he could, a rusty sword pierced through his body. His corpse immediately crumbled into ashes.
His soul left his body and was sucked into the Soul Gate, triggering a logout. Since it took some time for the Magic Tower to auto-generate a new body, the respawn wait time had been generously set to one hour.
Adjustments would be made after analyzing the statistics.
Haebyul’s face turned pale.
Now, finally....
Just as Jinwoo was about to time his entrance, a man holding a sword suddenly appeared with a grin.
Chapter 20.1: Leon (1)
Comments