Volume 40 Summary

Volume 40 Summary By iheartz
Volume 40
By the way, anything with a (?) behind it means that I’m not sure about the summary. It would help a lot if people can clarify these sections.

Table of Contents:
1. Internal affairs of the Arpen Kingdom
2. Ask ppaegjuk bag (?)
3. Abyss Knight and the Hermes Guild
4. Haven Empire
5. Bridge of Alcazar
6. Dejected (Porridge) Sky bag (?)
7. The King's Quest
8. Resurrection of the Lord



Chapter 1. Internal Affairs of the Arpen Kingdom

Many players are gathered around the Arpen Palace in an attempt to catch a glimpse of Weed, who has been holed up in his suite ever since he came back. While the wait for Weed to come out, they admire the palace and how it’s strong, well built, etc. Inside his quarters, Weed is about how much money is used to build a building like this (?). As he thinks about this more and more, his thoughts slowly grow darker. He thinks about how he could make a fortune if he built houses (not sure if this refers to in real life or being an architect in game). Weed then considers how land speculation and construction is the driving force behind economic development and how Arpen Kingdom will (or “is” not “will”, not sure) expand throughout the North, creating a spiderweb of roads for easy access and many centers for culture and art. In addition, he remarks on how the wellbeing of the cities and towns of Arpen looks terrific. Finally, with the tension and anticipation of opening up a piggy bank, which exceeds the tension he felt when he saved the world by fighting the Embinyu or even when he fought the undead legion with the Orcs, he opens up the Internal Affairs window for the Arpen Kingdom


“Arpen Kingdom.

A northern kingdom that rules over a vast territory, The flags and culture of the Arpen Kingdom has spread far and wide throughout the North, despite of the different topographies and climates. Through trade and cultural assimilation, this kingdom has already occupied most of the area ruled by the Niflheim empire in the past. The subjects revere their king (?); many residents believe that the Northern King has been chosen by the Goddess Freya. (Something pioneering the construction of nobility between the nobility and the king of kings? Idk). The rumors of the God-Chosen King have spread far and wide in the Versailles Continent (? Also, something about Weed doing the duty of a warrior). The ideal of the Arpen citizens are inclined towards adventure, freedom, and the pursuit economic affluence. Through art, they find their satisfaction. Although there is an invasion, the citizen believes that the power of their King will push the invaders back. It is difficult to measure the birth rate because it is growing so quickly. This especially applies to the Orcs of the Arpen Kingdom.

Military: 7,390.
Economy: 48,291
Culture: 42,092
Technology: 62,380
Religious Influence: 86
Political Influence on nearby countries (?): 97%
Kingdom Development: 79
Health: 42
Security: 92%”

The screen then continues and tells about how new areas are being cleared, abandoned mines being actively redeveloped. How special products are increasing, and how road construction is everywhere. Provincial cities are still paying their taxes (?) but they sometimes complain about how thieves and crime is growing. There is also a lot of interest in the marine industry, with maritime trade and fishing growing day by day. Agriculture is also another booming industry, with young farmers growing many species of plants. The surplus of rice and wheat are usually eaten by the Orcs, while the value of coffee, tea, and herbs continue to increase. Adventurers keep finding more and more relics of the Niflheim empire, and this rate doesn’t seem to be dropping anytime soon. Monsters subjugation happens frequently. Knights from all over the continent come in order to serve the prestigious King of Arpen, Weed
Total Population of Kingdom: 38,291,029.
Monthly Tax Revenue: 21,943,920
Operating Expenses: (? A number is missing here. It’s quite possible that the 38 million is the monthly tax revenue and the 21 million is the operating expenses)
Military: 6%
Technological Development: 12%
Cultural Development: 38%
Economic development: 22%
Investment: 6%
Monster and quest commissions: 14%
Religious donations: 2%
(Note: the numbers here are kind of mixed up so I may be wrong to where these numbers go).

Military
Commanders: 4939
Soldiers: 162,023
Trainees (or trainers?): 9720


After viewing the window, Weed exclaims how rewarding seeing the growth of Arpen is (he compares it to a full stomach?). Apparently, watching his “piggy bank” grow is like owning a poultry farm where all the poultry lay golden eggs. He remarks on how he can depend on this “rice bowl” until he grows old. However, Weed suddenly becomes anxious of how the Haven Kindom is trying to destroy his way to a comfortable retirement, and calls up the military window. Apparently, Apren has 32,998 knights at an average level of 367 and 187,390 soldiers at an average level of 194. Their loyalty is at 99% and training is 89%. Because of Weed’s title has “The Hero who saved the Continent” many of the righteous, unaffiliated knights are gathering in response to his call. The knights have great pride and will face any situation, no matter how dangerous. The soldiers have absolute loyalty and will do anything that the King says. (Something about how the inhabitants of Lavias are willing to fight too). Many run-down fortresses of the Niflheim empire are being repaired and garrisoned.


Weed looks through the window, and remarks on how although Arpen’s military is fairly decent, it’ll probably completely destroyed if pitted against the forces of the Haven Empire. His mind then turns to Lavias. The reason why there wasn’t that much military development is because Mora prioritized economic and cultural development. Even after Mora was flourishing, a significant portion of the money was spent on expanding the territory of the Arpen Kngdom (roads, wall construction, urban renewal etc.). However, Lavias does not have to worry about monster invasions (so they don’t need to build wall) and their infrastructure has already been largely developed. Frankly, with its many dungeons, it’s almost like a small kingdom. Also, apparently, playing an Avian is completely different than playing as a humanoid race. In addition to the humanoid races secondary and tertiary class promotions, the Avians had other amazing properties. Once a certain level has been reached, an Avian’s body will change (molt?), granting a newer body with enhance physical attributes. Molting also will unlock new equipment for the character to wear. Because of the constant demand for equipment, the ability to fly, the restaurants, hotels, and the training center, and the nature of the Avians to migrate to Lavias at least once or twice a year, Lavias has an extremely stable and fast-growing tax base. A window then pops up about how the Avians also want to fight the enemy incursion and Weed immediately accepts, saying it’s better than nothing. Weed then uses his authority as King to call his troops together, choosing the land around the Palace as a gathering ground. A message pops up saying how the army will be moved to the place and how Lavias is coming also. Weed is then allowed to select a commander for the army, but he chooses to directly command them.


Note: There is a paragraph here talking about Weed’s ability that he received (?) from the quest. It mentions how his level is only 419 now because of all of the levels lost from granting life to sculptures. The book also mentions how Weed (?) is the only weapon that’s absolutely replaceable and how it is unlikely that anybody else can learn similar skills. We find that if Weed reaches Intermediate Sculpting with his new Time Sculpting skill, he may be able to stop time (?). Weed then complains about how these art skills are kind of worthless (?)


The scene switches to a tent where the commanders of Haven’s northern invasion army are gathered. The leader of the invasion is Deuraka, a staunch supporter of the Hermes guild and also one of its most elite commanders. Deuraka also has one of the most notorious reputations, causing towns to flee just because of his presence. Hearing a report of how Weed has appeared in the Arpen Palace, Deuraka orders a full speed advance to the palace, saying how it’s only a stone’s throw away. One of the other commanders point out how even though it’s only a 3 day march, the constant hindrances by the Porridge cult has reduced their rate of marching. It is likely that it’ll at least take 5 days to go to the palace. Deuraka says that it doesn’t matter even if it’ll take a week’s time to march to the palace, because the end result (Weed and the high level northern users getting defeated) will be worth it. For the Hermes army, the repeated attacks by the Porridge cult are like little ant stings, and the assaults are easily defeated by a barrage of spells and arrows, followed up by a charge by the knights and infantry. The Porridge cult is compared to little birds defending their nest against a large snake (Hermes) while the mother bird (Weed) is off. Also, we find out one of the biggest reasons why the players are desperately fighting isn’t just because Weed is popular; it’s because the Arpen Kingdom is the user-ruled kingdom where players have freedom to do whatever they want, unencumbered by heavy taxes or rules. One of the commanders asks that wasn’t their original plan to have Ray Bard personally face Weed if they find him. Deuraka than replies, talking about how Ray Bard is currently dealing with the Abyssal Knight that appeared in Haven territory. Another commander brings up a report of troop movement and how the Arpen troops are all gathering on the Arpen Palace, meaning that Weed intends to fight. Deuraka says that although Weed’s commanding ability is great, there’s still a limit to what the NPCs can do. They then talk about how the Haven Army relies on NPC troops controlled by player commanders (unlike Arpen’s forces). There are many advantages to NPC troops like reliability, loyalty, swiftness, good training, and consistent morale.


Scene switches to the hunter, Robin (Seoyun’s ex-suitor lol) who has been formally invited by the Hermes guild. Because of his wealth and his obsession with Royal Road, Robin always has the top tier equipment as well as flashy augmentations (ex: diamond inlay). Although he always struts through villages, enjoying the envy of the other users, he turns into a coward in the dark and dim dungeons. Contrary to the fact that most hunters work alone, Robin usually hires at least five mercenaries in his dungeon expeditions. The person from the Hermes guild had also extended invitations to Robin’s friends as well. Their guild, Nice Guys, was well known (in many ways lol) in Royal Road. It was the “hobby guild” formed by the children of the super-elite who splurged large quantities of money on Royal Road. Even when guild wars pop up, with many guilds fighting for supremacy, none of the guilds bother the Nice Guys guild. Because of their overflowing wealth and connections, it would be unwise to risk attacking the Nice Guys guild. Robin and a lot of his friends, accept their invitation. (Some sentences about Robin doing transactions or something. Idk what). Scene jumps to the present, where Robin started having aspirations to become a lord of the city. He’s requesting a city from one of the Information Service members of the Hermes guild. The Hermes member nods and says of course. This is because if Robin becomes a Lord, then he will spend a lot of his money on the area, developing it quickly. This’ll make it beneficial for the Hermes guild in the long run. The Hermes member the asks where Robin will want the land, and is surprise by Robin’s request to want a northern city (Robin want’s to pioneer/explore the undeveloped North). The Hermes member points out how it’ll be difficult policing a northern city and how the territories they control in the north are nothing more than villages. Robin says it’s fine because he’s the eldest son of an entrepreneur and he can see that there’s going to be a big market potential in the north. Further, if the territories are just villages, he can completely redesign a territory from scratch. The Hermes member eventually accepts Robin’s request, thinking that, no matter what, at least Hermes has obtained some extra income.


In Mora, the user Seventh Rabbit was obsessed with reading. He read any article he could get his hands on. In the real world, he has been reading comic books from the age of 6 until his current age (17?) reading novels. As such, he spends most of his time in Royal Road in the Library. He usually goes around looking through books, keeping an eye out for books that may lead to quests (so he can sell them). He then suddenly sees a book he has never seen before, called the Heroes of the Age of War. He opens up the book, and reads about how Hess Tigger had become a hero revered by commoners and nobles alike (apparently, women wet their pillows with tears thinking about him lol). It also has a short passage on Zahab, the wanderer with immense combat and art skills.


Chapter 2. Ask ppaetjuk bag (?):

Lee Hyun is taking care of his garden. Currently, in Royal Road, he is doing the best he can to regain his lost levels and carving skills. However, he always spends 30 minutes every day to look after the house (apparently that relieves his stress). As it turns out, although he has receives a large sum from the television stations, his lifestyle still hasn’t changed that much. This is because he thinks that his job is unstable so he must earn as much money as he can. It mentions how in the future, he wants this money to go towards education for his children, assuming he has children (?). Lee Hyun then thinks about how his ideal woman is a strong lady. He then looks across the garden where Seoyun is watering pepper seedlings. His mind then wanders back to a few days ago to what happened in front of the house. Seoyun had walked up to him and gave him a deep kiss. (Summarizer’s note: Holy !@#$. Did that really happen?) Because (for some reason) all of the streetlights were off, there was no need to end the kiss early. After the kiss ends, Lee Hyun thinks how he’s going to have to take responsibility for life (novel points out how he’s completely clueless when it comes to things like this). Seoyun’s voice then breaks through his thoughts, asking for more instructions on how to plant the seeds. Because they were working outside, both Seoyun and Lee Hyun were wearing sportswear. However, unlike Lee Hyun’s scruffy shirt, Seoyun was wearing a sweatshirt designed by an Italian luxury sportswear brand. (Some type of joke here about how it’s so expensive that even several ambulances won’t be enough to treat all of the people fainting in shock). Seoyun now constantly comes and takes care of Lee Hyun’s garden and animals now because he is concentrating a lot of effort on Royal Road. While gardening, he thinks about the sculpting techniques he’ll need to use and the type of command system he’ll need to use in order to beat the Hermes guild. Usually an army is generally managed by players. However, in this short amount of time, it’ll be hard to find enough competent players to command the army. Furthermore, there would be no guarantee that one of the users would be a spy planted by the Hermes guild. Lee Hyun complains to himself about how, in the books and movies, the villains usually dilly-dally around, waiting for the protagonist to grow stronger before fighting. That night, Lee Hyun goes to the Dark Gamer’s bulletin board, and reads how they are taking a neutral role in the fight. He mutters how that’s expected and then goes to the Royal Road website in order to send mail (?) to Pavo, the architect as well as the leaders of 5 prestigious guilds (?).


Belloteneun, Hwaryeong, Surka, etc. (basically, everybody in the Pale group besides Pale xD) are tiredly digging in the mud. A ghost pops up and is instantly incinerated by Romune. One of them finds a rusty armor, puts it aside, and continues digging. In the Age of War, Weed had hid some of the treasures of the Palos Empire in the lake. Originally, the group immediately thought of discovering cave filled with colorfully glowing treasures of gold and silver. However, the reality was far more different, with them standing on the tidal flats of the lake, shoveling up mud. Belloteneun (or Romuna) earns 450 reputation for the discovery as well as the adventurer title “Hidden Balgulga (?) of the Land” which has been earned because they have been digging for 15 days. One of the two remarks on how at least their getting rewarded for being human moles and throws another relic into a pile. Because most of the treasures were looted from their rightful owners, many of them were items haunted by ghosts. As such, Irene had to purify the items (she materializes the ghosts and Surka beats them up lol). Although the items were worn down, many of them could still be restored and they could always sell for a lot of money.


Scene switches to the Dojo group who are overlooking a Haven settlement. The Hermes guild had conquered the place a while back and was bringing in slaves to work the mines. Whenever they conquered an area, the Hermes guild usually enslaved many of the inhabitants (I would assume its because it’s cheap labor and its stops a region from having the manpower it needs to rebel). In order to develop the Northern region, many slaves were brought to the conquered northern territories. Geomsamchi (I think that’s Geom-3-chi?) spearheads the assault on a bull, and is followed by a group of 150 practitioners. Behind them are the rest of the practitioners. They are spotted by the watch and a horn is blown. The archers of the settlement fire their arrows, but the practitioners cut the arrows out of the air. Because of the martial artist class, the practitioners are able to learn a huge variety of master level combat skills. The first wave of practitioners reaches the wooden palisade and instantly smashes it with the weapons. They spread through the town, fighting the soldiers and knights stationed there. Geom-201-chi come across a trader who offers him all of his gold in exchange for his life (although traders are usually so low level that its not hard to recover levels, dying will still reduce their merchantile skill). Geom-201-chi refuses and then stabs the merchant and a window pops up showing how Merchant Rega, who has gained a reputation of exploiting serfs, was killed. The group then comes across 2609 slaves, which they free. They all earn lots of reputation and gain the highest level of intimacy with the slaves. Geomsamchi then jumps on his bull and charges away towards the next settlement.

Because of the disruptions caused by the Geomchis, General Rommel and a small army was dispatched to quell the commotion


Chapter 3. Abyssal Knight and the Hermes Guild.

Pale is on a hill looking at the Haven Army marching in the distance. Gathered with him, are the best archers, rangers, and wizards in the north. After waiting for the army to get into range, the archers take out their arrows, to which the elementalists imbue with spirits. The archers then fire off their salvo at the Haven army. The Haven archers immediately identify their position, but are unable to hit them because they are both downwind and are suffering from an elevation disadvantage. Because of the opportunity to attack the enemy without being counterattacked, Pale is constantly firing, using his Rapid Fire and Penetration skills to its full potential. Normally, arrows would be relatively ineffective against the well armored Haven forces, but these arrows were enhanced by spirits, able to burn, freeze or even explode when they come into contact with the enemy. Because of the growing casualties, the Haven commander orders the knights to charge the archer’s locations. Almost half of the Templars (2nd promotion for knights I would assume?) had died but the rest of them were steadily approaching when the Northern archers withdrew. Not wanting to overextend, the Haven knights also stopped their pursuit. This victory raises the morale even though killing around 1,000 troops was a relatively small victory. Up until now, millions of players have died to the Haven Empire while only 100,000 of the Haven soldiers have been killed (this is compared to being on a ten thousand losses losing streak). Pale garners attention and compliments due to his skillful use of a bow (although his character is relatively standard, his months of fighting with Weed have given him the ability to look at everything with a cool head. This allows him to shoot more effectively and do more damage). In addition to Pale’s skill, he was also somewhat of a celebrity in the north because Pale had been on T.V. with Weed on Weed’s adventures. Hearing of the praise, Weed’s corrupt smile slowly creeps onto Pale’s face. Suddenly Weed whispers (private messages) him. Startled, Pale greets Weed which causes a commotion to his onlookers because he’s getting a whisper from Weed. Weed asks Pale what he is doing and Pale tells about how he’s with a small group of archers gallantly fighting the Hermes guild. Weed then says that means Pale isn’t very busy and sends Violations to get Pale. Pale asks if this is for a celebration for how Weed has safely come back from his quest, but finds out to his dismay that it’s to go through a “hell hunting” with Weed. (By the way, it’s not called hell hunting because they’re facing demons. It’s hell hunting because Weed’s leading the group lol.) Pale tries to make excuses to get out of it but Weed shoots down every one. In the end, Pale is being led away by Violations, looking like a man going to his execution. The rest of the people gossip about how they feel sorry for Pale.
Weed goes around Mora to get additional party members (because his usual party group is digging for the treasures of the Palos empire). Using his accumulated contribution points to the Freya church, he kidnaps (yes, the word “kidnap” is actually used) Alberon. Using Marfan’s contacts, he is introduced to the warrior Python (although they met in the training center in the past, they can’t remember each other) also a player wrapped in black robes who wishes to hide his true name. Instead, he tells them to call him Shadows of Death. So, with Weed, Pale, Alberon, Python, and Shadow form a party. Python asks where they are going, and Weed says they’re going south. Confused, Python asks why they are heading towards Haven territory. Weed rectifies his words and says that they aren’t going to the south of the North, they are going to the southern region of the Versailles continent.


In the middle of the Haven Empire, an undead army lead by Abyssal Knight Van Hawk has already conquered 2 forts and 6 cities. Currently they are assaulting another fortress. Usually, thick walls are effective against invaders. However, against the undead with ethereal ghosts and Doom Knights that are strong enough to simply jump over the walls, walls are fairly useless. The defenders of the fortress are desperately trying to push the undead back, using all of the silver arrows and holy water they have. However, in the face of the 100,000 undead troops that Van Hawk can control, the resistance is mostly futile. Apparently among the undead army are undead players who found it fun to assault a fortress of Haven. Also, as it turns out, undead players can apparently be revived immediately if not killed by holy power.
In the face of this threat, the Hermes guild has mobilized 10,000 users, 6000 paladins+priests, and one million (? This is probably wrong I think) soldiers. This overwhelming response is because this problem must be ripped out by its roots, the Abyssal Knight Van Hawke. If the undead threat was just half-heartedly dealt with, they’ll just quickly come back. In addition, the undead will just increasingly stronger if left unchecked, because Van Hawke may manage to recruit/resurrect the defeated/killed knights of the Kallamore Kingdom. Fortunately, the undead are weak against light and divine power. As a result, all users that are involved in the battle had their weapons and armors blessed. The suppression force then heads to the Peniah Fort which is near Van Hawke’s current location.



A teleport gate flashes and Ray Bard enters the Peniah fort. The NPCs immediately prostrate themselves on the ground as Ray Bard looks around. He recalls how Hermes had to sacrifice a lot of troops to conquer the fort. Once a stronghold for the Kallamore kingdom, the Peniah fortress has since been taken over by Haven. It is a fort protected built along the cliffs of a high mountain, armed with towers for archers, repeating catapult launchers, a moat, and more. Because the battle to take the fort was so severe, the fort has not been fully repaired and is operating below normal condition. The Hermes commanders create their battle plan (essentially forcing the undead into a valley surrounded by high mountains and then exterminating them all) then bunker down and wait for the night.



In the night the undead army rises (with 4302 users joining the undead legion). Ray Bard and the SS (the top 300 strongest users in the Hermes guild) stands at the head of the valley, watching them. Ray remarks to himself how he’s feeling an interesting sensation of exhilaration, and this must be how Weed has felt. (Ray continues talking about future growth, being surprised at how something is evolving, etc. It then mentions how the undead are fairly intelligent compared to normal undead because Van Hawke was a commander of Bar Khan). The Haven army begins their attack with stones launched from catapults. Although that crushes hundreds of skeletons, most of the undead forces are mostly unscathed by the barrage. The barrage continues, with the priests adding their holy magic as well as archers shooting their silver-tipped arrows. The undead struggle through the storm of silver and light, slowly making their way up the valley.



Chapter 4. Haven Empire:


Watching the battle, Bard Ray frowns, noting how the undead were weaker than they thought and wondering if the army that was prepared was overkill. Although the undead were fairly relentless, they were significantly weaker than the armies of the other guilds and kingdoms that Haven has fought before. After seeing that the priests were running low of mana and more than half of the silver arrows have been used already, a commander orders the Imperial Knights to charge the undead. The knights charge down the steep slope (thanks to their excellent steeds) cut a swathe through the undead. The undead players head to intercept the knights, but are devastated by the overwhelming power of the Hermes guild. Suddenly, a low and dreary voice speaks out and Van Hawke appears, a sword in his right hand and a spear of darkness in his left. Van Hawke uses Dark Speculation on a group of Hermes users, and instantly kills several hundred users. The only player that survived in the group was Tir Bing. Tir Bing was an unusual warrior that always stood in the forefront of the charge. It’s because he possessed skill (google trans imperfect body wave sulfur) that reduced physical damage to less than 20% (?) of its original as well as increasing defense up to 9 times depending on the level of the skill. Although this skill is extremely strong, it’ll drop dramatically if he dies. Tir Bing runs at Van Hawke, intending to stab Hawke through the chest with his spear. He takes a hit chest when shadows join together and formed a spear, but shrugs it off thanks to his skill and continues running. However, he stopped when the shadows coalesce around him, gripping him in darkness. He then falls to the ground, his body smoking and turning into dust. Van Hawke then turns to the Hermes guild and uses Parade of the Dead to summon more undead. The undead group then charges at the Hermes guild, reducing their morale, luck, reducing life recovery, and giving them mental disorientation (cutting down the probability of a successful spell by more than 50%). However, after being in countless numbers of battles, the commanders of the Hermes army calmly react to Van Hawke’s charge, bombarding the undead with holy magic and silver arrows the entire way up the valley. The priests use Consecrate on the land the Hermes guild is standing on, giving everybody there increased damage against the undead and other massive buffs.


10 minutes have passed and more than half of the undead have been eliminated. However, the Hermes guild is having trouble against Van Hawke. They are wondering why he is so strong (they saw clips of Van Hawke during Weed’s adventures and Hawked was constantly getting beaten up by Weed). An hour passes and by that time, the places is so sanctified that the undead are unable to revive. By that time, Van Hawke had already wiped out over 10,000 people. The players are wondering if they’ll die too and how the hell Weed was able to kill Bar-Khan, a being of similar power. Ray Bard is standing off in the back, trying to gauge Van Hawke’s power. This is difficult because Van Hawke is shrouded in darkness, making it near impossible to see the state of his injuries. However, even when fighting alone, Van Hawke has already managed to kill over 800 Haven soldiers. Ray Bard decides to wait longer, seeing if he lost his life on the televised broadcast, the impact significantly larger than the simple stat and level losses. Meanwhile, in the midst of battle, Van Hawke has already personally taken over a thousand lives. But, due to the divine power, Van Hawke’s state is the worst. With his body so steeped in holy power, he is unable to use any dark abilities as well as suffering from significant health and strength losses. Finally, it becomes clear that he only has several percent of his original health and is severely weakened. This is when Ray Bard rides down the valley on his white horse and fights Van Hawke. After some words (Van Hawke is challenging Ray Bard’s authenticity as an emperor I believe) the two start fighting. The fight lasts for over 10 minutes, but thanks to Ray Bard’s sword skills as well as his gear (he’s wearing an entire equipment set tailored to fight the undead) he kills Van Hawke. Bard Ray gets 2 level ups, permanently destroys the anger+despair that’s driving the abyssal knight, gets fame determination, charisma, stat increases, honor, increase in battle skills, and the benefit of making the aristocrats of the Haven Empire to scared to revolt. It also mentions how in the next month, Doom Knights may periodically rise up and fight the Haven Empire. He also earns a title (google trans: Spiral Emperor? Anybody else think of Gurren Lagan? ) which recognizes him as somebody who leads through fear and oppression. Finally, he loots the gloves, breastplate and (pitching?) of Van Hawke. Ray Bard blankly stands there for a moment, basking in the adrenaline of fighting the Abyssal knight. Then, the valley erupts into cheers and Ray Bard laughs out is satisfaction.



Chapter 5. Encounter with the Lord: (summarizer’s note: I know that the title of this chapter is different from the one in the table of contents. And no, I’m not sure why)

In the North, there are many people heading towards the Arpen Palace. The first group of people is the player characters, both high level and beginners alike wishing to help. The second group is the NPC soldiers. It also mentions how there are many easy quests to be had, with the NPC army needing many materials. The third group of people is the NPCs who are volunteering to help Weed. Alongside these fighters are the artists, who are creating many patriotic and defamatory works of art (making ugly statues of Ray Bard lol). Suddenly, in the sky, one of these people spot something glimmering like a gemstone. It turns out that Bingryong and the Wyverns are heading towards the palace as well. On the backs of Bingryon and the Wyverns ride the High Elves, the Barbarian, the Eltin (?), Geuminyi, Seville, Cerberus, and the other humanoid sized living sculptures. The people then see fires on the horizon which turn out to be the Fire Giant and the Phoenix heading towards the Palace. Through the forest went the King Hydra, crushing all of trees in its way (apparently guarding the kingdom was kind of boring so the Hydra heads started talking to each other. They eventually became friends once they found out that all the heads shared the hobby of swallowing monsters whole lol). The players then hear a stampeding sound and see an enormous dust cloud rising in the horizon. The players wonder what it is, and it turns out to be Rover and all the cattle he has sired (Summarizer’s note: Dayum Rover, you’ve been busy). Finally, a shadow blots out the land. This shadow is caused by the entire Lavias floating towards the Palace. The crowd of users are awestruck by the sight and somebody speaks up about how that was an amazing sight.


While waiting for the hunting party to get ready, Weed is carving a sculpture. Weed pulls up the Time Sculpture Window. We find out that he’s at beingger level 3, 79% at time sculpture can allow sculptures to last for a very long time, untouched by nature (?). Unfortunately, the requirements for raising the skill is to make sculptures that last for a very long time (?), but Weed is impatient. So, instead, Weed is making fake antiques. Weed finishes the sculpture, Infuriated Bird which has an artistic value of 17 but is quite popular with antique collectors because it seems like it was made long ago (there’s also a description of how the year of production can’t be guessed). The living sculptures come in and Weed greets them all. It turns out that Geuminyi has learned a new skill which makes his gold stronger and enhances his vitality. There’s some small talk between the sculptures and Weed, and then Van Hawke shows up. Weed is puzzled because Van Hawke is supposed to be an Abyssal Knight attacking the Haven Empire. After finding out that Van Hawke was defeated (Van Hawke’s words: “The enemy was too strong”), Weed shakes in anger and asks why didn’t Van Hawke retreat. Van Hawke replies about how he wanted to show the Haven Empire the bravery of the Kallamore knights. After Weed finishes berating Van Hawke, Rover speaks up about how his many offspring are here. Weed praises Rover for increasing the food supply but says how they should wait until the calves have fully grown for the maximum amount of meat (lol).


After Weed reached Beginner 4 in time sculpting, he takes his party to the South. Python is surprised when they are teleported into the desert because he though Weed was joking at first (such long range teleportation from the North to the South is almost unheard of). The “unnamed man” (Idk why he’s called the unnamed man now) asks what they are hunting here, and Weed points off in a direction, saying that they are going into a dungeon that way (?). He then states that he can’t give exact directions because it has been some time since he has last seen the dungeon. Upon being asked when he had last seen the dungeon, Weed casually replies that he hasn’t seen it for around 500 to 700 Versailles years.


Thanks to Alberon’s Speed of the Sand Lion buff, they manage to find the dungeon in about five minutes. The moment they enter the dungeon, the entrance closes behind them (?). Python exclaims how they fell in a trap and pulls out his sword. Weed explains that the entrance is close and how they must clear the dungeon (?) to get out. Back during his days as a Desert Warrior he had skipped this dungeon because it was “only” had level ~500 (?) scorpions and offered little benefit to his significantly stronger character. However, with Weed’s current level, it was the perfect hunting ground. After telling his party members that it’s a fight for survival Weed starts fighting. Because Weed has fought scorpions before in the past (centuries ago) he is very familiar with all the actions of the scorpions and their weak points. As such, he is able to avoid all of the scorpions attacks (one good attack may be fatal for Weed) and deal powerful blows to the scorpions (he’s using Sculptural destruction as well). The party quickly clears out the room of scorpions (apparently Van Hawke and Tori participated in battle as well). Python speaks up about how that was fairly easy (he’s able to crush the scorpions with one strong blow because of his high Strength and Power, and the scorpion’s low health). Weed mentions how the real battle is now beginning and Python is surprised to see a flood of scorpions pouring towards the party, from the walls, floors and ceiling. The “unnamed man” melts into the shadow, appearing just to deliver fatal blows to the scorpions’ vulnerable underbelly. Weed says how if they’re going any slower, he’s going to yawn, and Python incredulously thinks to himself ‘He thinks this pace is slow?’ They continue on and Python is astounded by the hunting rate, stating how if Weed (or himself?) can get stronger at this rate constantly, he’ll already be in the top 40 players (?). Throughout the fight, Python closely observes Weed, noting how despite being a sculptor, Weed is incredibly strong. We find out that Python’s current level is 465 and that Python is wondering what level Weed really is. Weed then speaks up about how he’s going to increase his hunting rate and asks everybody to be careful of dying. Python asks when they’ll take a break and Weed replies that they can rest when they’re heading to the next dungeon after clearing this one. After being asked about meals, Weed says how it’ll be simple grain bread that can be eaten while moving. The unnamed man appears from the shadows and asks about how long do they have if they want to log out (for bathroom/food I would assume), and Weed says 3 minutes (?). Over two hours have passed and they reach the center of the dungeon. Weed then suddenly speaks up , saying how the boss is in the 500+ (?). The “unnamed man” asks isn’t it better to avoid the boss, which is logical because most 500+ leveled bosses are usually fought by entire guilds. Weed says how it’ll be more rewarding if only they fight the boss (? There’s an analogy here about rice and the main dish but I can’t understand it). The man then asks what happens if somebody’s life is endangered and Weed points out that none of them are children anymore so they can fend for themselves (?). They fight and defeat the boss, with Python and the unnamed man experiencing a tremendous sense of accomplishment from defeating it (they say how Weed deserves the title of the God of War, etc). Weed then speaks out about how he chose an easy dungeon because it was the two’s first time, and how the next dungeon will be harder. Python laughs (?) and comments on how Weed likes exaggerating things. He says that however, if there’s a more challenging dungeon, he’ll be glad to go through it. The “unnamed man” says how Weed’s going to have to back up his words and find a harder dungeon for them (?). Pale on the other hand, just wishes that he can die because he knows what’ll happen when Weed starts escalating his hunting (?).


Chapter 6. Bridge of Alcazar:

There is a meeting in London where the managers of the investment group that are trying to take over Unicorn has gathered. One of them reported that the attempt to take over Unicorn has failed, with them only managing to hold 4% of the stake in Unicorn. The leaders lamented how Unicorn is starting to dominate the economy, not only in the VR field but also in chemical, pharmaceuticals, robotics, etc. Another speaks out about how they should learn from the mistakes of the JKI investment group. A year back, JKI held 20% of the shares of Unicorn, putting Unicorn into what seemed to be a serious crisis. However, Unicorn then went into a full-scale counterattack, with JKI’s accounting irregularities and backroom dealings exposed to the public. Under the attack of the media and the dwindling investments (and combined with the internal losses on the real estate and business market), JKI, a company with 105 years of history, fell apart. After some further investigation, the managers of this investment group were shocked to find out that many financial institutions were indirectly owned by Unicorn. Instead of trying to take over Unicorn in the real world, the managers have decided to change their plan to investing in the Hermes Guild. That way, they’ll essentially be able to “control” Royal Road without risking retaliation.


Scene switches to the Geomchis, who are looking at the Haven’s Pato Castle. Although the Haven empire conquered this territory not long before, the castle has already been quickly built thanks to slave labor (? Not sure if the castle is built or is uncompleted). The 505 people begin their charge at the castle and is immediately met with met with nearly 2,000 archers waiting for them. Among these archers were those of the Sniper class, a secondary class promotion of archer. In order to counter this torrent of arrows, all of the Geomchis use Sword Doppleganger, with Geomchi (?) creating 40 dopplegangers and the other instructors+trainees creating 15 to 30 dopplegangers. This temporarily creates a huge army of Geomchis which shock the archers. Despite of the archer’s constant barrage, the Geomchis carry on, forcing the Haven forces to sortie 3,000 of Haven’s elite knights. The Geomchis pull out bows and shoot the knights. Although the knights were mostly unharmed the normal arrows, there were sometimes magical arrows. The knights bring up their shields, but are then shocked when the Geomchis start assaulting them with throwing axes and javelins as well. The 2 groups collide and the Geomchis start doing large amount of damage to the knights. It mentions how the Geomchis were similar to the desert warriors, relying on agility and skill to keep them safe unlike the heavily armored knights. Seeing that his knights were in danger, General Rommel orders his troops to attack as well, and tells the snipers to pick off any of the intruders they can. One by one, the practitioners eventually fall, unable to block both the knights in front of them and the snipers from behind. In the end, only one of the Geomchis was still remaining (he was the oldest trainee. Not sure about his number. Maybe “ochi” is his number?) By that time, over 6,000 of Haven’s finest troops were slaughtered. Rommel tells the trainee that he’s the last one remaining and asks if he has any last words. He simply laughs out and says that was a good fight and he’s looking forward to the next one.


Scene switches to a banquet/party the Hermes guild is throwing to celebrate the defeat of Van Hawke (only City lords or lvl 440+ people can attend). A group talks about their progress at conquering the continent (the South and the East are also showing some resistance, but the biggest problem is the North). The group then concludes that Weed will be beaten despite of his strategies and skills because no matter how you throw an egg (Arpen Kingdom’s forces) you can’t destroy an impregnable fortress.


Scene goes back to the Northern Army who is marching towards the Arpen Palace. They manage to reach the Pesil river and are impressed by the sight of the enormous Alcazar bridge. The commanders make plans to rest the soldiers for the night after crossing the bridge and assault the palace in the morning. The scouts come back and report that they see no enemies along the rivers, so they start moving their forces across the bridge. A group of players in the Army imagine all of the profit they can make from controlling all of the amazing works of architecture in the North while they are marching through the bridge and are pleasantly surprised by the effects of the bridge (gain reputation, fatigue disappears, increase temporary stamina, reduces movement speed reduction by rugged terrain, etc). While they cross the bridge, they discuss how it was nice to control an 8.5 million gold structure that they didn’t even have to work for. One of the players mention how it would suck if the bridge will collapse in the future though, because they would be losing the benefits of the bridge. His friends points out how that’s stupid because the bridge is a Great Building. Suddenly a grating sound cuts through the air and the bridge shakes. One of the players asks what it was but another says it’s probably just some idiot breaking a carriage. They continue walking across the bride, but then cracks spiderweb across the supporting pillars and the steel wires holding the bridge up all snap, sending the bridge (and a part of the army) all tumbling into the river. The commanders survey the damage from the back (some of the users wonder if they went over the bridge’s carrying capacity or if the construction was bad lol) and they received a report that 38,000 troops and several wagons of combat materials was lost in the collapse. Although this damage was bad, it was still manageable because the Haven army consisted of an almost ridiculous 200 million troops (? Not sure if google fail or if they really have that much). However, the biggest problem was probably the 150,000 NPCS and the 2,000 Hermes guildmembers that were trapped on enemy territory when the bridge collapsed behind them. The NPCs all suffer an enormous blow to their performance (reduce by 22%) and morale (reduced by 45%). This is when the Porridge Cult army charges in attacking the stranded troops. At first the Haven players were confident because they had defeated the Porridge army many times. However, as the battle dragged on, they started to see that loss was inevitable and many of them started slowly sneaking to the river. Unknown to them, there was the Seaweed porridge and Kkomak (?) porridge divisions waiting for them in the water. And those who managed to escape downstream found another group of players waiting for them: the Dark Gamers. Every day, there are many informative posts created on the Dark Gamers website. Among all of them was a post by Gold Bugs, a person famous for posting informative information about expensive weapons and jewelry (?). This post said how there was a great hunting ground (and something about pottery). Although it seems like an ordinary post on the outside, only those among the top 10% of the Dark Gamers were able to decode the post and see the true message: that there was a good “Haven hunting ground” downstream of the Alcazar. That is why there were around 600 high leveled Dark Gamers just waiting for the fleeing Haven deserters.

Chapter 7. Porridge Sky Bag (?):

(Note: I just translated this part for the lolz. Note: the first sentence is probably spoken by Python and the second by the assassin.)
2 hours after Weed and his party hunted down the boss:
“Man, there’s very little sense of battle. It’s more like a production line where we just hack the monsters and then move on to the next room”
“Well this careful selection itself takes a lot of knowledge.”
5 hours pass:
“Whoa, that wsa very dangerous. Thank god the priest was with us”
“Due to the nature of the monsters, they were pretty dangerous for assassins like me”
9 hours pass:
“We have almost died twice in a row, and I’m so tired that I can barely lift my sword. Isn’t it past time to rest?”
“This is the first time I’ve spent so much time hunting. I’m mentally exhausted. Looking for their weak points and dealing critical blows? I’d rather just grab my daggers and roughly swing them around”
13 hours pass:
“We are all just being machines aren’t we?! I’ve now understand how easy normal parties are. “
“What is hunting? Why is the assassin class so disrespected in society (?)? Where is this? Who am I?
The hunt drags on and on, to the point where battles of life and death are looking like simple labor work. Finally, Python suppresses his pride and asks: “Weed can we have a little break?”
“We are conversing right now. This counts as a short break doesn’t it?” (?) Weed casually replies.
“However, if you really want a rest, it’ll probably be more comfortable to rest at the end of this dungeon. Let me speed up the hunting pace.”


The hunt then goes on for two more hours, but they finally manage to kill the boss monster. Although Alberon was able to stall the decline in physical strength and fatigue, it allowed the party to continue fighting. This was the first time where the holy magic felt so repulsive to Python and the assassin. The 2 drop onto the ground, drenched in sweat. They talk about how if somebody put as much effort into studying as they have into hunting, they could not only get into a top level university, but get a Nobel Prize as well. One of the two also says how it’s not a joke and how they are literally at their limits as human beings. Weed, on the other hand, just stands above the two, saying how the next dungeon is nice, cool, wet, and how it’ll be nice to take a break over there. The two reluctantly stand up and stumble to the next dungeon, collapsing near the bank of the water.

(note: translated part for the lolz)
“Oh, by the way, I forgot about one little fact. Don’t worry, it’s nothing important, but I feel like I should tell you anyways”
“What is it?”
“There is a species of monsters that lives near here. It’s because there’s drinking water here and abundant prey.
“So?”
Python didn’t want to think too deeply. After the hellish hunting session, all he wanted to do was to take a nap. (Sentence here about having resentment against Weed or something)
“But they are extremely territorial.”
“Territorial?”
“They really do not like intruders and because of their relatively high intelligence…”
Kaang! Kang! Kang!
The sound of large bone hitting together echo through the dungeon.
“If they detect an intruder, the whole tribe will come rushing here to repel the invaders.”
Python and the unnamed man could see the monsters rushing into the room.
The break ends and the battle begins.
In this dungeon, the cycle of monster hunting continues.
“We’ve been duped.”
“This guy is evil”


After a few hours, the battle finally ends, and the two drop onto the ground. They ask for a break but Weed is determined to continue. Python grows tired of such Weed’s machine-like way of hunting which turns everything into simple repetitive tasks and asks Weed if he can leave. Weed accepts

(Note: translation)
“Well, I’ll see you later in Mora Python”
“Yeah, I’ll see you in Mora…huh?”
Python stopped when a though struck him. Usually, he rides his horse back to town after going hunting. However, he is in the Southern Desert and his horse is in Mora.
Weed’s eyes glinted and his smile widened.
If the devil ever laughed, this would be his face.
“Mora’s very far away, you know?”
“Oh, I just remembered that. Unfortunately, I’m not familiar with the landscape of this region.”
“The nearest village is about 10 day’s walk away. Be careful to conserve your water.”
“If I don’t arrive within 10 days, won’t I die of thirst?”
“It shouldn’t be a problem for a strong fighter like you. The things you’ll have to look out for is the scalding, ankle-deep sand and the various monsters lying in wait for a traveler like you to pass, don’t you know?”
“……”
“Well, this information is a few hundred years old by know. I’m not sure if that city even exists now. But, all you have to do is cross the desert and go over the mountains. There, you should be able to find somebody that’ll take you to Mora. Come and drop by sometimes once you finally get back to Mora.”

Python thinks that Weed’s intimidation skills matched the Devil’s (he mutters about how Weed’s despicable and cowardly under his breath) but decides to continue hunting with Weed. The two talk among themselves, asking why Alberon and Pale are so calm and collected, thinking that they may just have an extremely strong mental and physical fortitude. Overhearing that, Pale just shakes his head and explains that he’s already had the experience of Weed’s hunts. (Something about people looking towards the next 10 days and eating dry fish?)

After the Porridge Cult’s overwhelming victory at the river, they are ecstatically celebrating. The victory proved to be a huge morale booster for them after a long string of defeats at the hands of the Haven Empire. Scene switches to Lavias, where a new Porridge Sect is being born. After the speaker finishes his/her inspiring speech, they pronounce the birth of the Porridge Sky Bag (?). The strengths and weaknesses of the Avians are then talked about. Although the Avians can fly, they are unable to wear armor and their melee attacks have to be at an extremely close range (beaks). Although this problem can be solved with a bow, going into bow range means that the enemies are also able to target you with their magic. Firebolt, Thunderbolt, and Icebolt are all very effective long range magic attacks. Lastly, their wings are very delicate and if there is any injury or damage to the feathers, they will fall.


The battle of Alcazar Bridge had the opposite result for the Haven Army. After that battle, their morale which was soaring due to the victory against Van Hawke plummeted. The leader of the army, Paesil, thinks about how Rafael will think unfavorably of this loss. His mind then turns to the 2 “factions” of the Hermes guild, the Ray Bard and the Rafael factions. Although most people believe that the 2 have different agendas, he knows that those two are working together in order to keep the guild united. (This is what I, as the summarizer, think the book means: If the guild was under one rule, then dissatisfied people will just splinter off from the guild. However, if there was an “opposing” faction present, then they would just join that faction. Because Bard Ray and Rafael are secretly working somewhat together on this, this will give an outlet for the “rebellious” players and keep them in the Hermes guild?) He then thinks back on his surprise when they got a staggering amount of investment recently. His mind then goes back to his current problem and he decides to march his army to the nearest forest so that they can build rafts to travel across the river (the Haven army didn’t have architects because they think that architecture is mostly useless in wars). The scene switches to the undercover Haven forces in the Arpen kingdom. The Haven operative reports the information they gathered on the most important people in Haven (also possibly a list of the people they have assassinated) and is then told to head to the palace to assassinate Weed.


Marpan whispers Weed’s party and tells them about Haven’s defeat at the River. The two men dryly express their congratulations. Weed smiles brightly, and to the two’s horror, says how that’ll mean that they can hunt for several more days now. They continue their cycle of hunting, only stopping to eat, go to the bathroom, and sleep for 4 hours.


Scene switches to the Haven Army who are marching through the mountains to reach the nearest forest to make rafts. However, when they arrived, they are shocked to see that the forest has completely disappeared. The scouts search around and then come back to report that they see trees that are walking away in the distance. The players surmise that this must be the doings of elves. Paesil has now choice but to order would to be transported to the river (taking up five days). The day when the rafts were built was extremely windy and raining hard. After waiting for half a day, Paesil decides to begin the crossing despite of the damage to morale caused by crossing a stormy river. After several attempts, the Haven army finally manages to establish a beachhead and ferry all of their troops. Because of the unfavorable terrain, 80,000 Haven troops have died in the process of crossing.



Chapter 8. The Quest for the Lord:

Thanks to the insane hunting, Weed has reached level 422 and Beginner 6 in Time Sculpting. They go to a desert city and sell of all their unneeded loot (Weed has already gotten high familiarity with the merchants for trading so much). They walk around the city and Weed notes how the city is suffering from food shortages (it’s difficult to grow grains in the desert and also to feed livestock). Weed grins when he overhears an NPC boy talking about the story of the great Weed who had conquered the continent, created the Palos empire, and brought the Golden age of prosperity to the desert. Eventually, the town elder offers him a quest to seek to find the traces left by the Desert Lord but Weed declines because he has to deal with the Haven Empire soon.


The Haven army has finished constructing their siege machines and has begun the march towards the palace. Marpan reports that to Weed and Weed sighs, saying how the time has finally come. Pythons and the Assassin celebrate in relief and Violations comes to transport them back to the Arpen Palace.


Scene switches to a group of extremely famous adventurers who are pursuing a quest about the Embinyu. Their journey has led them to the desert and they intend to go into a city to purchase camels for transport. The camel trader asks them if they want to hear a story and the adventurers perks up, seeing as it’s possible to obtain quests from such events. The adventurers are then disappointed when they hear the trader talking about the legendary warlord Weed (they also can’t help but feel some jealousy towards Weed). The trader continues talking about Weed’s legacy as the adventurers turn to leave. However, their footsteps suddenly stop when the trader begins telling them about how the oases have gradually dried up and the desert tribes are starting to fight again (before, there was plenty of water to go around thanks to Weed’s actions). Their adventurer’s instinct perks up and they carefully question the trader more. They eventually find out that the tribes are at the brink of war and that several desert warriors have set out to obtain the legacy of the Lord. The adventurers then excitedly accept an A-rank quests to assist the group of desert warriors in retrieving the legacy. Their excitement quickly dwindles when the desert warriors treat them as mere servants, berating them for looking the desert warriors in the eyes, making them serve meals, etc. This is because Desert Warriors value strength above all and they won’t respect a person unless s/he shows them overwhelming strength. And thus, the adventurer’s suffering begins.


Yubyeonjun (creator of Royal Road) is shivering on a bench in the park on a Sunday morning. He talks out loud about how it’s cold. The A.I. chirps up about how the current temperature is 6 degrees and the wind velocity is 4 meters per second (8 miles per hour). Annoyed, Yubyeonjun tells the A.I. to stop talking to him. The reason why he’s his sitting on this bench in New York is so he can catch a glimpse of Ray Bard, who regularly runs in the park at 5:00 AM (we also find out that Ray Bard is a French-American). After waiting for 2 hours, Yubyeonjun asks when Ray Bard is coming and the A.I. replies how Ray Bard isn’t exercising today. 1 hour and 20 minutes ago, he has boarded a flight to Las Vegas to meet with the investors of the Hermes guild. Yubyeonjun shakes (not sure because he’s angry or cold) and asks the A.I. why she didn’t tell him if she knew. The A.I. points out that Yubyeonjun told the A.I to stop talking to him (either that or she says that she didn’t tell him because he wouldn’t like it lol) . Yubyeongjun shivers because of the cold and asks when Ray Bard will come back. The A.I says that it’ll probably be 3 days until Ray Bard comes back. Uneasy at the answer, Yubyeonjun asks “Ray Bard must return today, right?” The A.I. explains how the discussions and terms of agreement for the investment are extremely lengthy and how there is a 98.7% chance that Ray Bard will be back in 3 days. (There’re some funny lines here about how Yubyeonjung allows the A.I. to speak again (?) and the A.I. talks about the amount of rain that’s going to come down. (I’m not very clear on this line though).


Chapter 9. The Resurrection of the Lord:

(note: original google trans was The Resurrection of the Lord in his Palace but I took out the “palace” part because it didn’t really fit. You’ll probably see why later)
Weed and his party arrive at the palace and Python is amazed to see that huge crowd of people gathered around the palace. Weed looks around and can here the clamor of people, including merchants who are selling items as well as the ever-present battle chants of the Porridge Cult. Weed is impressed that all of these people were able to fight for his lies and hypocrisy (the line here is about a corrupt world and gathering people to him [something] hypocrisy. This was the only sensible assumption I can come at). Weed then spots a group of beginner Avians who are throwing themselves off of cliffs in an attempt to learn how to fly. Weed becomes very worried about the future of Arpen. (note: I’m not sure if he’s worrying about the flying part or the following) He thinks about how Arpen’s future can be very short despite of all of the struggles it took to rise. Pale asks Weed what he’ll do and Weed replies he’ll do what he has always done. Pale hopefully asks “Have a superior tactic?” but weed simply shoots down that ideas and says “Fighting bravely” To Pale’s disbelieving “really” Weed concedes and says “He’ll make one gold” (?). The party then splits up, with Weed leaving to go to the palace.


Point of view switches to a squadron of assassins who have infiltrated the palace grounds. As it turns out, the Hermes guild has sent 700 (?) elite assassins in order to end Weed’s life and to sow chaos. One of the assassins asks why they are killing Weed during the battle and not before, to which another assassin replies that the defeat will be more traumatizing and it’ll be easier to subdue the North. The assassins are disguised as novice merchants and they are trying to blend in as much as possible. Suddenly, one of people walking in the streets turns grey. The assassin leader demands to know why somebody has ignored his order to wait for a signal before assassinating. He then continues on about how there’s not much benefit in killing merchants. One of the crews speak up, saying that they are not the ones that are killing others. It is they themselves who are targeted. The man making the report is then suddenly cut off. To be in the assassination group of the Hermes guild, one must be at least level 380 and undergo a lot of training. But right now, one of the most notorious assassination groups in the Versaille continent is being assassinated one by one. The leader asks for the enemy’s location and identity but the subordinates reply how they don’t know. The enemy is killing his targets with a single blow and is instantly disappearing back into the shadows. Currently, on the crowded palace ground, there are less 50 Hermes assassins disguised as novice craftsman classes. However, to the “unnamed assassin” who has the ability of the Eyes of Truth, they are easily visible. The Hermes guild assassins are all extremely notorious, with the names of every single one of them hovering in red above their heads. Although they have used camouflage to conceal the murder’s mark, the Eyes of Truth skill could easily penetrate through the disguise. The man comments on how fun it was to assassinate other assassins (apparently he is hunting them down very quickly thanks to what he learned from hunting with Weed) and he notes his experience and skill levels are rising quickly. The players mingling on the palace grounds finally notice that there is something strange, with players turning grey left and right. However, the unnamed assassin’s attacks also lift the camouflage of the other assassins (?) and the players quickly realize that these assassins were from the Hermes guild. Finding themselves suddenly in the midst of an angry crowd, the assassins were wiped out in less than 5 minutes. The leader of the assassins was stunned by how their secret is revealed and orders all of the remaining assassins to retreat. Meanwhile, people around the palace started talking about this event. This is one of the conversations:

“Hey, do you want to hear a story? They say that in the palace, a death god has appeared.”
“Oh, you mean the man who calls himself the Shadows of Death?”
“You know him?”
"Yeah. By the way, his real name is Crab Condiments.”
(Summarizer’s note: If I recall correctly, a couple of volumes back, there was an unknown assassin saving a group of artists when they were caught by the Haven law enforcement for painting anti-government propaganda. One of the artists, a beautiful young lady sees the assassin and asks if she can befriend him. Flustered, the assassin agrees and the lady is surprised to hear that the real name of the assassin is Crab Condiments By the way, Crab Condiments was also mentioned to have been going through the Assassin mastery quest chain. Lol, you really have to feel sorry for that guy).


Weed is slowly sculpting a sculpture of a man with a perfect body and a handsome face. This statue, is of Hess Tigger. He is annoyed at Hess because Hess had tried to “take from his rice bowl” (I think Hess did stuff in the past age like freeing slave, giving away treasure, or something along those lines) and is jealous of how heroic Hess acted. He finishes the statue and names it the Cocky Lord Guy. After he finishes the statue, gaining several stat increases, he speaks out “Appear, ugly Lord bastard. Resurrection Sculpting!” Hess Tigger opens his eyes and asks in a voice of disbelief if “his Lord” is really here. After hearing Weed say it’s really him, Hess Tigger’s face breaks out into a brilliant smile that can turn women into putty, and says in a sweet voice that can cause women to swoon, how “the Lord” looks a lot younger than before. Weed carefully asks if Hess realizes that Weed is weaker than before. In the laws of the desert, the strongest warrior was the leader. However, Hess allays Weed’s worries and says how his pledge of allegiance has not weakened with time, and will continue even though he has died. Hess continues saying hero-like things but Weed then suddenly speaks up, asking why Hess is dead. Hess tells Weed how, after escorting the elves back to their dwellings, he traveled around the world, searching for Weed. The noises of the Arpen forces preparing for battle causes Hess to look outside and ask what the voices are (he also notes how they seem to be preparing for battle). Weed mind quickly calculates the way to best persuade a good person like Hess, and says how they are currently in his kingdom. He admits that he has been very cruel in the past, but it has all been for the sake of defeating the Embinyu (he says how all of his sins remain vivid in his mind and how he still carries the burden of guilt lol). Hess hurries to point out that it was thanks to Weed that the desert tribes gained new life. Some tears appear in Weed’s eyes (I think the book says how if a person looked closely, they could see the pepper power applied to his eyes lol) and he says how he created Arpen Kingdom in order to atone for his past and fulfill the dream of a peaceful and unified kingdom. Weed muses out loud about how he slowly raised Arpen Kingdom from scratch and how, in the beginning, he has sowed the seeds for wildflowers onto the wilderness that would eventually become Arpen. He continues and says how Arpen, the pride and joy in his life, has now been invaded by the Empire Haven, the empire filled with resentment and hate which is intent on oppressing the weaker Arpen. Weed finishes by saying how if Arpen is destroyed, what he has spent his life working for will be crushed and he will have to forever bear the burden of the lives he has taken. Hess Tigger’s eyes fill with tears and he declares that he will stop the Haven Invasion. Weed rejects Hess Tigger’s words telling him that there are two reasons why Weed has resurrected Hess. The first is to lead the women and children of “soon-to-be destroyed” Arpen Kingdom to safety (?) and the second is to rally the troops of the desert (?). The novel ends with Weed thinking about how that was a good life experience and how he should continue to live this way if he wants to become the vice-president of one company or another (?).