“It's time to talk about the latest news on the continent of Versailles. We will introduce you to the events that occurred in Royal Road. And today we have a guest in the studio, you all know him, it's Joo-wan. How are you!?”
“Hello! Hye-min, your smile today is even more charming.”
“Ho, ho, you already managed to come, no need to bother with compliments. Apparently, there is some important news today, right?”
“Yes, you're correct. Not that important, except your preference in taste, because I sense that in the morning you ate finely roasted pork...”
“Oh, what did you say? In the morning, roasted pork tastes best. But do I really smell?”
Joo-wan and Shin Hye-min. Although they quarrel and say random things at times, they are a pair of young reporters of news for the gaming channel, KMC Media. Lee Hyun slowly ate as he watched the news program.
'Often they are blunt, but it's better than CTS Media.'
Yes, the eternal problem of time management: seriously making profit, it's hard to stay up to date with all of the events in the game. CTS Media invited to broadcast the most beautiful and famous actors, but they did not have the most important thing, innovation. In each episode, the actors focused on their image and boasted about their characters, which greatly annoyed the audience. Sometimes the show went so far off-field that it was unclear what they were talking about.
Compared to them, the news on KMC Media was much more convenient to watch. The excellently organized collection of information allows them to be surprisingly quick to recognize, and summarize main events in their news programs. The huge size of the Versailles continent gathered the vast number of players who to some extent, wanted to be up to date on the game.
“Now you will hear some wonderful news. Take a break from other issues for a few minutes. Now, at last in the Kingdom of Haven, the player Ray Bard received level 370, which was called the 'impenetrable wall.'”
“Wow! Superb!”
“Remember that Ray Bard is one of the leaders ranking among the highest-level players, and certainly you know of the nickname 'The Black Knight.' Inside the tower, the soldier finally reached level 370. The highest level in the game! Now, let's see how this happened.”
Warriors of the tower.
A gathering place for the strongest warriors of Royal Road to compete. A knight in black armor wielding a black sword was fighting against a fierce barbarian. The barbarian, screaming in a fit of rage, inflicted a terrible blow with his two-handed sword. However, using foot techniques, the black knight easily avoided and deflected the enemy attacks. The speed of high-level players defies description. Blades flashed with unimaginable speed. And when you take into account their equipment, you would have thought that it was a battle between a red and a black dragon. Still, the winner was immediately clear: the black knight was playing with his opponent! In the end, the dark player won the battle.
“You just said that the player Ray Bard won the fight and become the highest-level player in the game! Thanks to the victory over the warriors who guarded the tower, he reached level 370. I also would like to addthat the technique which Ray Bard used in this fight has never been seen or used before!”
“Oh, ho, ho. Amazing!” Joo-wan was waving his arms and cried about. “However, Ray Bard must have been pushed, to have revealed such skills and technique?”
“What amazing insight! That's correct; Ray Bard is from the guild, Hermes. And as you may recall from our earlier news, Hermes took on the previous ruler of the kingdom of Haven, Iluina, and announced that they have chosen the path of a military dictatorship.”
“That is, you mean to say that Haven declared war on all of the United Kingdoms?”
“Yes. Apparently their recruitment of more forces boosted their confidence.”
“Moreover, they have Ray Bard.”
“Exactly that! Although the leader of the guild is a different player, Ray Bard is in fact the face of Hermes. Thus, from the showing of his increase in level from the tower's warriors, Ray Bard announced to the world the supremacy of his guild.”
Later on, the news turned to other matters. They mentioned that somewhere far off, some guilds started a war against a powerful wizard in a newly discovered cave. On the mainland of Versailles, something was becoming commonplace: someone lost their items due to the outbreak of tornadoes and earthquakes. So if you are going to an unfamiliar area, you must be careful and try to gather more information to avoid the maelstrom.
'Level 370....'
The numbers refused to leave Lee Hyun's mind. In the Continent of Magic, he was the best player! However, even then, Lee Hyun did not realize the true value of that nickname. He only played for fun, slowly beating monsters and almost never talked to other players. When he gathered an especially numerous amount of items, he would visit a town and then sell them. Hence, the nickname of the 'Best' had a hollow ring to him. It was only when he decided to sell his character that he came to the realization of such a title!
'Ray Bard... if you sell your account, how huge an amount of money will you make!?'
This was especially so, as the number of players in the Continent of Magic is not comparable to Royal Road. Over one hundred million people play Royal Road! Office workers, freelancers and many others used the game as a vacation spot. It is so popular!
While he improved his fishing skills, Weed saw many people like this. They came to the river Bensa to relax, away from family or work. Having picnics or sunbathing under the hot sun. Even if only level 50, their mood did not spoil.
The players do not hunt monsters for loot; instead, they just bought it all at once in the shops with real money. Often, they did so just to show off in front of their friends, as if they had come on vacation to a resort. In general, that was not far from the truth. With Royal Road, you did not have to take a leave of work for a week, or miss a weekend, as long as you have a capsule in your home. Lee Hyun did not blame these players. On the contrary, he considered them as a different form of clientele. While there are such people in the game, anyone can make a little more.
Lee Hyun's thoughts all came back to Ray Bard. Everyone, from junior office workers and ending with company presidents played in Royal Road, so the cost of the highest-level character would be astronomical!
However, in the case of Ray Bard, if he is not a fool, it is unlikely he would sell his account. Royal Road has only recently begun its triumphant run throughout the Earth, and according to experts, its popularity will last for at least another 10 years. So selling a character, the value of which will still grow further, would not just set you back in the game, it would also be a great folly.
“Yes, thank you On Joo-wan. Do you have any more news to report? You talked quite a bit about the continent of Versailles.”
“Of course there is. If you talk about all the events that have occurred on the mainland, even 24 hours would not be enough. I wouldn't be surprised if something amazingoccurred at this very moment.”
“Really? Then don't hold out on us and quickly share something new!”
“Hye-min, do you like craft skills?”
“Hmm, yes I do.”
“And if you would go into details....”
“Er... I like passionate people who can create something new with their own hands.”
“Very good. Then you'll definitely enjoy this news. Just recently, a player has reached the intermediate level of Tailoring, Cooking, and Blacksmithing.”
“Wow! That's great!”
Lee Hyun bowed in astonishment.
'Tailoring, blacksmithing and cooking – someone got them all up to intermediate?'