BJ Archmage-Chapter 9

6.

God Wars players all had a few things common amongst them.

One of them was that they loved the game.

There were also those who loved it simply because it was an RPG, and they loved hunting monsters and doing quests.

Then what was the interest of people who just started the game because they like the genre?

“I want to hurry and go hunting.”

“They said the first monster we have to hunt is a Goblin, right?”

Most of them wanted to hunt monsters.

“I want to try to do magic. I used 5 character cards to obtain this magician class!”

“I purchased 4 character cards as well to obtain this prosecutor class!”

“I will make the most out of this game no matter what.”

It wasn’t that they did it only because they wanted to, it was to the extent that they thought of the money they used and their eyes were on fire to receive the reward as much as they invested soon.

Hiiing…

To such a playerbase, the dying sounds made by a poor puppy on the streets weren’t even worth paying any attention to, nor would they even think about wasting their time on it.

!To cure the sickness, medicine made from a tree struck by lightning is needed.

!To cure the sickness, medicine made from a tree struck by lightning is needed.

!’Thunderstruck Tree Medicine’ can be produced when the favourability level with NPC Hayden reaches level 30 or above.

!Curing the sickness of the ‘Nameless wolf (Level: Legendary)’ quest discovered.

‘As the quest hasn’t been cleared yet it still remains here, moreover it’s a linked quest with a hard-to-find clue.’

Midas, it was thanks to his ability to see the quest then.

It was because no one showed any interest and sympathy towards the pitiful animal.

‘But even so, I didn’t even think that a Legendary quest still remained here……’

Despite that, the truth was that the quest was Legendary level.

He had no other choice but to be surprised.

A Legendary level quest.

Just like the name it was a quest with the highest level among all existing quests.

Of course the reward level was different from any other quests.

It was one of the biggest causes why people with good luck in God Wars possessed their place in the rankings.

‘I didn’t think that right after I started the game, I would encounter a Legendary level quest that I had never even seen after playing for more than 5 years.’

It was because lucky people in God Wars could easily surpass the effort that they, the normal people had painstakingly made for a couple months.

‘This damned lucky-ass game.’

All these times that word was more like something from a foreign language to Midas.

Even as he played this game for more than 5 years, Midas had never held anything from Legendary Level or experienced it.

He encountered a unique quest only thrice,had only ever held two unique items, and only managed to obtain a unique mission once.

It wasn’t just Midas who was like that, most of the Players were like that as well.

Legendary level items, skills, quests and such were beyond anything that most people could obtain or dream of, as those who had these fantastic benefits kept them to themselves.

Thus towards these RNG elements,(random number generator, any event that depends on chance (somewhat)) most Players were extremely discontent and expressed their anger.

‘I really like it.’

Of course the current Midas was different.

‘Ah, I really like this damn game that favours luck so much.’

The opportunity to be able to have the legend that couldn’t be obtained by anyone else came knocking on his door.

‘For now, let’s proceed calmly.’

Midas started to move faster, to make sure that he grabbed this once in multiple lifetimes opportunity.

‘Now the most important thing to do is to secure the minimum level requirements and skills.’

It was one of God Wars’ truths that came into Midas’ mind first.

‘If I act greedily right now, everything will be ruined.’

An overwhelming greed was brought about calamity and ruin.

In reality, those words of common sense were similar to an absolute truth in God Wars (and anywhere in general).

God Wars wouldn’t tolerate the greed of someone who couldn’t spend a penny.

‘Even accidentally leaking out the information of this Legendary quest to people will be disastrous.’

The most important amongst them was strength.

‘In the end, I should do quests by myself.’

Even though there was a very valuable monster, if one didn’t have enough strength needed to catch it, even though there was a good item, if there wasn’t any strength to protect it, it would be snatched away before you could even see it properly.

‘Graduating from the starter village requires level 13.’

Midas knew that fact more than anyone else.

‘In that starter village I need to at least achieve level 10, so that I’m able to complete quests independently.’

Because of that he didn’t think too long for what level did he need to go through to be able to certainly obtain something he wanted.

‘For now let’s purchase a quest from the Explorer’s Guild.’

Midas, he started to move.

7.

The master of the Explorer’s Guild, Venture.

The reason why he established the Explorer’s Guild was simple.

“I just connected to the game and people who used a million won are easier and more comfortable in the game. Should I use money, or not?”

The fact that God Wars players had a great purchasing ability.

“Much more because I purchased things for the limited stuff, I received some money and was going to give it, but would it be rejected?”

Moreover the fact that everything that exists in God Wars is limited.

Because of that many people are lining up for that and they can make money off of it.

A similar example to it was that the amusement park company sold a free pass ticket where people can directly get on the rides without having to line up with a higher price.

“I want to get a quest, but if they sell it as something that can’t be received even after lining up for about 1 hour, if it’s someone like me, they will probably buy it.”

The things that the Explorer’s Guild had their eyes on, were quests.

The amount of quests that are given by NPC are limited according to various conditions, because of that, players routinely lined up in front of NPCs in the beginning of God Wars.

At that time the Explorer’s Guild started to line up.

They lined up and after they had the authority to receive the quest, they sold it to other players.

And then after some time passed, the Explorer’s Guild started to change their system bit by bit.

“Isn’t it more profitable to make an NPC inaccessible as 5 people than lining up as 20 players?”

In the world with the law of the jungle, they started to use the more effective method, force.

Of course it was impossible to control all NPCs in God Wars.

By any chance, it would cost way too much, and there were many variables too.

Was it impossible for God Wars’ players to just let go of those kinds misdeeds of the Explorer’s Guild and just watch them?

“It’s the starter village.”

The Explorer’s Guild had set their eyes on the starter village.

The starter village was a tutorial mode of some kind to help the players adapt to the game.

Because of that the players who have cleared the graduation quest in the starter village couldn’t go back to the starter village again.

Thus, even though problematic players came it wasn’t hard to block them off.

“I’m showing you the Explorer’s Guild services.”

At the same time the Explorer’s Guild could attract people to their services related to the starter village.

It’s some kind of pop-up store.

That kind of hard work of the Explorer’s Guild came to fruition perfectly after 5 years passed. 𝐟r𝒆ℯ𝘄𝑒𝒃𝚗𝒐𝘃e𝗹.c𝘰𝐦

Then people who prefer to use the Explorer’s Guild’s services were more merrier, and just as expected the Explorer’s Guild opened many events and services to those customers.

Whether it was spreading items or helping them to hunt monsters, they started to make a good image for themselves.

Their Explorer’s Guild was being complimented.

Of course, Midas knew better than anyone about the Explorer’s Guild’s misdeeds.

‘If there’s another virtual reality game except God Wars, I really won’t play this pure RNG based game.’

To be frank if there was one more game like God Wars, it should’ve appeared long ago.

‘A game like God Wars doesn’t interfere with my work.’

God Wars’ developer, Plus Corp., wouldn’t interfere with the trouble between players and it declared that they wouldn’t step in to change the situation with the multitudes of explorer’s guilds that were popping up left and right, trying to stake their claim on all the NPCs.

‘One of the main reasons I didn’t want to start over with a new character are these explorer’s guilds.’

The place where these explorer’s guilds could create a scene and boss people around to their liking was precisely such a starter village.

But in the end destiny didn’t leave Midas alone.

“There’s a new, better version of this service.”

A member of an explorer guild, without knowing Midas’ feelings, showed him a pamphlet and started to explain the products that they possessed.

“The cheapest service is only supplying quests, the more expensive version is the service where we would lend you an item. The most expensive service is providing a carry(someone who “carries” you through st/mission whatever you are having trouble with) that is guaranteed by our explorer’s guild to assist you perfectly from the beginning till the end.”

To that reality, Midas held his uncontrollable laugh inside.

‘They are great, they are great.’

As what was said before, the Explorer’s Guild thought of quests as business items since the very beginning, and they portrayed that product well and started to process it, turning it into a more expensive product than when it was in a normal person’s hands.

Just as the member said, they provided various services.

Some of the services they provided were very convenient and affordable, surprisingly to Midas.

“Of course it’s possible to have an item by using your in-game gold. Foreign currency and cryptocurrency are not accepted, payment is only possible in USD, Yen and Euro.”

They even had properly thought out the payment option.

“Paying with EMIs is also possible, but I personally wouldn’t recommend that. If there’s a situation where you can’t pay the installment, you will be forced to pay using other means.”

Of course the thing that they were very certain about was how to collect the money.

They had ways to receive money from a situation where the customers of explorer’s guild didn’t pay back the money.

The most widely known was miner.

They ordered these miners to do the crude, repetitive and boring tasks, which were almost always mentally and physically taxing, but still paid well and were a stable source of income.

“It’ll be good if you at least pay it before giving up on your character.”

The only way to be free from that was to throw away the character.

‘I will be able to feel it once I see it but it sweeps away real money, sweeps.’

In a world with absolute misdeed it was the secret of why the Explorer’s Guild was able to protect their business firmly for more than 5 years, as they sat amongst the 10 guilds.

‘If I use the VVIP service, I can power level my character right up to level 100, right? If I become a VVIP, I can be offered admission to all kinds of events and raid information for free.’

Moreover, these kinds of explorer’s guilds separately arranged services for people in power or wealthy people in the real world.

‘But it’s said that getting a VVIP pass is harder than getting an American Express Black Card.’

There was even a rumor that all Latin American mafias and the Middle East’s richest were customers of the Explorer’s Guild.

Through the game’s services, one held power in the real world.

‘It’s really a damned game.’

It was impossible to be able to disturb the Explorer’s Guild position individually or by a random organization.

“So what kind of service will you purchase?”

Of course Midas was the same.

“The lowest one, I will purchase the right to do a quest under level 10 for once.”

Here, he didn’t rise a revolt against the Explorer’s Guild.

‘Let’s level up first.’

It was still like that.

A blue-eyed NPC wearing a white robe was sitting in the corner, making their hair.

But Midas’ sight wasn’t directed to the NPC, but towards the player beside them.

Midas was having a conversation with the NPC.

“I received an errand quest from Hyden.”

On saying that, Midas had a bitter smile inside.

‘Would the makers of this game have imagined this kind of scenario?’

The player stood around the NPC and had just received a quest, only to sell it to some else.

It felt like Taedong River that met Kim Seondal.

*A Korean folklore about a swindler named Kim Seondal who sells water from Taedong River.

Of course Midas didn’t reveal his innermost thought.

“I will check the quest for a second.”

“Yes.”

Maintaining a perfect poker face, Midas did various short calculations in his head.

‘I’m digging into Hyden.’

Following the current Midas’ understanding, he was in a situation where he needed to receive medicine from Hyden to cure the nameless wolf.

And due to the linked quest for the Legendary one, he needed to increase Hyden’s favorability towards him.

‘Money is going away every time I do this, huh.’

To state it in another manner, it meant that if he wanted the favorability to increase upto the desired amount, he needed to give his money to the Explorer’s Guild.

Quest Rank: Normal

A detail that stuck to the expectation of being a repetitive quest…

‘Oho.’

But it was seen in Midas’ eyes.

A hidden reward within a quest that only he could see.

Midas who confirmed it formed his smile.

‘I saved my money!’

A member from Explorer guild spoke to Midas.

“If you purchase one more Right to do a quest, I can provide you a quest related to hunting Goblins in a party, are you interested in purchasing it?”

He tried to do business.

A surprising systemized service, Midas smiled while speaking about the service.

“I’m dirt poor. It will be pretty difficult for me to scrape some up.”

After speaking words with sincerity without the slightest bit of fabrication Midas turned his back around.

There was confidence in his eyes.

‘For the current me, I can catch Goblins alone.’

It was a confidence that he didn’t need to hunt as a party when facing Goblins.

‘The ability effect that I obtained through [Tutorial Master Reward Rune].’

It wasn’t a vague confidence.

‘Here, I can even see the pattern, so there’s no reason for not being able to catch it alone.’

Now the result of calculation after realistically analyzing his current situation and ability, his confidence showed up based on his calculation.

Midas who held that confidence headed to the hunting ground.

And in the hunting ground Midas was able to realize.

That reality was always different than speculation.

.

Through the tutorial players experienced two things.

The first one was that they experienced a game over.

At the same time they also experienced a battle with Orcs.

Through these two experiences the players who just started this game had mostly one reaction when they fight against Goblins.

“It seems like I can catch this.”

It seems like I can do it!

Because of that confidence most players unexpectedly tried to battle, Goblins, but to the surprise of no one but themselves, it was a futile attempt.

Hiii!

Of course an easy start didn’t mean the battle was easy.

“Damn why it isn’t right!”

Hunting something would not be much trouble for all these players, had they not started the game all over with a new character, as when a Goblin’s HP reached below a certain level they gained an Escape skill.

“Oh? Oh! It freaking running away!”

“Fucker really!”

“Damn, why is that little sh*t so quick!”

To chase and catch a Goblin who used Escape was harder than one initially thought.

“Ah, it’s damn annoying!”

If one was going to catch three or four Goblins, it was not only about time but it was also very tiring and difficult to achieve.

After all, they could only stay in peak state of mind for a short time. One’s concentration was not limitless.

Of course, not everyone was like that, trying to brute force a capture.

There were also players who captured them using a predetermined and effective strategy.

For example ,cases where one guessed a Goblins’ physical condition and read the timing when the Goblin would gain access to their Escape skill, and then moving to block their escape path.

“Wah, look at that person.”

“They are only attacking its feet!”

Or there were also cases when one fought with Goblins they destroyed the areas around the feet early so that they were unable to run away effectively.

“That player tied its feet!”

“Wah, they used a rope.”

“Why are you guys acting as if this is your first time seeing these things. Quickly hunt it down so we can start proper levelling.”

There were also cases where one used items like rope to tie the feet and made them completely unable to move.

It was obvious but those players weren’t beginners who just started the game.

“Are they the Explorer’s guild’s helpers?”

“Just as expected, they are on a different level compared to us noobs.”

Most of the time, one could hire someone from the Explorer’s guild to carry them through monster hunting or quest completion.

“Holy sh*t, if I knew the difference between noobs and pros was this large, I would’ve employed a Helper from the Explorer’s Guild!”

At that time, one realized why the Explorer’s Guild was able to gain one victory after another even though they engaged in activities that gained people’s ire, why they received the same people’s money, and allowing them to become rich through selling their services.

‘The helpers obviously know how to do it.’

Midas who saw that scene held his uncontrollable laughter.

‘It’s a touching sight.’

The Explorer’s Guild brought a lot of helpers for each level.

The problem was among the helpers, all of them didn’t receive treatment for leveling up.

There were cases where when the skills were all the same and they were at a level where they couldn’t do any quests anymore, where they exceeded the regular level, they created a character again.

They repeatedly made characters and maintained it below level 20, and they did the helper job in the starter village.

Considering the time and money it took them to make a new character and optimize it as a helper, it wasn’t a bad investment. They were able to receive good money for it.

‘They are only machines.’

But in the end, could they even call themselves players?

‘That isn’t easy as well.’

Of course, it’s better not being made to do those kinds of things as a miner than being exploited.

‘Heh, it’s not like I’m in a different condition than them.’

To Midas who intended to start the game as a miner, it meant that he didn’t have the right to sympathize with those helpers.

Because of that he erased his uncontrollable laughter.

‘Let’s capture the target.’

He searched for the prey he was going to hunt by himself.

Searching for a prey was not hard.

Because in Midas’ eyes a traffic light that showed the monsters’ state was seen.

However even if a Goblin hid his face that traffic light obviously showed Midas the Goblin’s location.

‘Hm?’

At that time Midas’ stare stopped on one Goblin.

‘Why is it yellow by itself?’

A Goblin surrounded by a yellow aura was sitting alone in a separate location, all by itself.

Midas’ stare focused on that Goblin.

‘Ah.’

At last Midas was able to know the reason.

‘Thank you for making this game so luck based.’

Midas thanked the RNGod once more.