The Embinyu forces encircling Serabourg Citadel weren’t normal. It was close to impossible to even fathom evacuating the beginners and the refugees from the Citadel. But even if Weed failed, this righteous act would earn him the hearts and minds of the people.
“The Embinyu Church should already be blocking that way… If he escaped by himself, I wonder how far he could go.”
*****
Chairman Jeong Deuk Soo was using the weekend to read a book at his house.
“They said it will rain the whole day.”
Rain was beating outside the window since the morning.
“I think with the weather like this, it will be a good opportunity to log into Royal Road.”
His talk with Park Jin Suk rekindled his interest in Royal Road. It was a useful tool to him as he used it to relax to his heart's content during his leaves.
“I should log in before I change my mind.”
Chairman Jeong Deuk Soo went into the room with the capsule. The character Chairman Jeong Deuk Soo logged in as was Bart. He only had starting equipment. And as his hobby was mountain climbing, the last point he disconnected at was a valley where rangers were residing.
“Wow, the water is really clear.”
“Try drinking it. It’s refreshing.”
The valley was a couples heaven! As this was a famous valley in the Versailles Continent, there were even more couples.
“I should go somewhere else.”
Bart walked manly down the mountain.
“It’s so nice that connecting to Royal Road makes me feel several years younger.”
But after several steps, he had an unfortunate encounter with a cute, red eyed rabbit.
“Eek, a rabbit”
Bart cowered, making sure not to utter a sound as he waited for the rabbit to pass by. As he was only a level 3 beginner, even a rabbit was frightening to him. Bart had no battle experience and the three levels he raised were through simple quests that could be ended with conversations.
“I should head back to the village first.”
Bart was not at a level where he could travel anywhere confidently. The valley within the mountain was safe for him as there were many people here. Also it was right behind a major city so no dangerous monsters appeared.
The city in La Salle Kingdom was overcrowded with players, haggling and looking for people to travel with.
“Looking for people to harvest blue medicinal herbs! Anyone over level 25 is fine! You can make a tidy amount of money for just 1 hour of hard work.”
“Looking for party members to hunt in the newly created goblin fort in this area.”
These were the yells coming from beginners, but for Bart the levels were impossibly high.
“Everyone seems to really enjoy Royal Road.”
Wandering around the city, Bart saw the joyful expressions of the people enjoying themselves. The sky couldn’t have been any clearer, the surroundings were no different to reality and the game gave realistic feedback of walking. The feeling of excitement of walking through a new world!
Bart nodded to himself as he watched the birds nesting on the roof.
“There is a reason why this is so popular.”
As a businessman he only paid attention to the technology and the opportunities related to Royal Road. Currently Unicorn Corps. was growing at an unprecedented scale, the turnover or the net profit of all the companies he managed could not even compare. Even the difference in operating profit of Unicorn Corps. to the the top companies in the world started from single digit figures.
“Times have changed. Playing more Royal Road might prove beneficial in the future.”
He thought Royal Road was just simple entertainment, but seeing people being so crazy about it, he wanted to experience the game fully. Fortunately, he had plenty of money saved up. The company's secretary had set aside a lot of money for him to enjoy his vacation days.
“First, get some proper weapons for battle...”
Bart had a modicum of common sense and acquired starting equipment without any level restrictions. As he still did not have a class, he acquired basic garments and a light longsword.
Excited voices from the players could be heard from the shop with the weapon sign.
“Did you hear? The Embinyu Church is attacking Serabourg Citadel right now.”
“Right now?”
“There is a siege going on and everything. They say the demons are huge!”
“Ah… I was going to go hunt in Bolog dungeon...”
“Is hunting all you think about? Watching this at the tavern is more important.”
“Yeah, I guess you are right. I am going to regret it if I don’t get to watch.”
“Hurry. There won’t be any space left in the tavern if we are late.”
It was all nonsensical to Bart. But it seems like he could see something if he went to the tavern. Perhaps that’s why the street suddenly felt devoid of people and the once crowded stores felt empty.
“I should also head toward the tavern.”
Bart entered the tavern and ordered a whole chicken with beer. And on the large crystal a video was being reflected. On it the siege of Serabourg Citadel was shown just as the player had spoken of before.
Players were riveted to the large crystal as they ate and drank.
“Kaah, beers good. War God Weed really is different.”
“Can there be any other person who would stand up to the Embinyu Church alone?”
“Ranker? You think high level is everything? They can’t even touch Weed’s footstep.”
“Look at his hunting speed. It’s faster than our walking speed! He doesn’t even blink an eye when the monster appears.”
“The Embinyu Church is mincemeat to Weed.”
Listening to the chatters of other players, Bart continued to watch on the large crystal. The large crystal could relay the exact broadcast from the stations. And the huge time dilation in game and reality could be solved by showing advertisements or other programs in between!
The display usually showed the Embinyu Church destroying Serabourg Citadel, it did frequently change to Weed clearing the dungeon with other players.
“The War God Weed...”
The name was quite familiar to Bart. It was the male character that his daughter Seo Yoon usually spent time with!
“That Weed fellow is someone I know.”
At his mumbling the other people turned and faced him.
“Ahjussi, that person is the War God Weed. Do you really know that kind of person?”
“Yes, it’s definitely him”
“Well, there are lots of people with the same name.”
“I am telling you, it’s that Weed.”
“Ah, Yes…”
Due to Bart’s age, they didn’t hackle him further, but the atmosphere in the tavern told all. For a newbie, who was wearing starting equipment, to know Weed personally was a joke.
“That ahjussi’s is too much.”
“He should at least say something believable.”
Bart became the pompous fool who lied about knowing Weed.
*****