TL: Don"t remember if I mentioned this earlier but I"m changing Eating Jokbal in Bed to Eat Spicy Jokbal
“30,000... Exactly 30,000 people...”
It was a premise that took a considerable amount of time, but a village with only 1,000 NPCs would become a city if there was a steady inflow of players. A minimum of 100,000 people was required to build a kingdom. However, Grid had gone to the East Continent and brought back 30,000 NPCs in 10 days.
It was an enormous number that was unrealistic. Lauel couldn’t help feeling shocked.
“Do you know? A typical player has difficulty acc.u.mulating 100% affinity with one NPC.”
Even if affinity with an NPC was maximized, there were few players who could make NPCs follow them. They almost didn’t exist.
“But Your Majesty captivated the hearts of 30,000 people in less than 10 days?”
Lauel knew that Grid had the t.i.tle effect of being ‘easily acknowledged’ after becoming Pagma’s Descendant. However, the reason behind Grid quickly building up affinity with NPCs wasn’t just due to the t.i.tle effect. Grid’s ability to charm NPCs was phenomenal. Lauel expressed his surprise and admiration and Grid told him the truth.
“As a matter of fact, there were 250,000 people from Pangea who wanted to follow me. All the inhabitants of Pangea wanted to become people of Overgeared. Unfortunate, the return scroll to the West Continent only allowed 30,000 people. So I only brought 30,000.”
“...”
If the other person wasn’t Grid, Lauel would’ve been 100% convinced it was a lie. He would tell them not to exaggerate. But Lauel absolutely trusted Grid. He believed all of Grid’s words.
"...Indeed, a man with a sincere heart. Grid’s charm is like a swamp. n.o.body can deny it. Just like how I can’t escape from Your Majesty.”
“...R-Really?”
Grid got gooseb.u.mps and opened the quest window for his own sake. Grid had a special quest in his list.
[King’s Quest]
It was a large-scale quest that was generated after Grid established the Overgeared Kingdom. It was a quest that existed only for players who became king. It didn’t exist for ordinary players.
"The blacksmiths will be given to Khan, Han s...o...b..ng to Lauel, and the Red Phoenix Group to Asmopehl.’
He had yet to figure out the talents of the remaining Pangea residents. Grid wanted to know their details before placing them in the right place. However, it was ridiculous to look at all 30,000 residents with the Great Lord’s Sword one by one. It couldn’t be done in a day or two, and could take months.
Thus, he opened up the list of King’s Quests. It was to complete the quest that had been postponed. It was a quest to upgrade the Great Lord’s Sword to the King’s Sword.
[The King’s Role (1)]
Level of Difficulty: Linked Quest
The king is part of all the people.
There is a duty to look after the people and place them in the right place.
Experience the lives of the people and understand them more deeply.
Quest Clear Conditions: Experience 100 cla.s.ses.
Quest Reward: Learn how to make the King’s Sword. A following linked quest.
[The King’s Sword]
Durability: 530/530 Attack Power: 320
* Dignity +300
* Insight +300
* Leaders.h.i.+p +300
* The skill ‘Wide Area Character Observation’ is created.
* Skill ‘Talent Search’ will be generated.
A sword that could only be used by the ruler of a kingdom. You can observe the soldiers and residents more closely and efficiently command them.
Conditions of Use: A king.
Weight: 490
Wide Area Character Observation. It was clear that it had a different effect from the Great Lord’s Sword that could only observe one person at a time.
‘Searching for talent will be much easier if I can observe several people at once.’
In other words, Grid wanted the King’s Sword. But look at the quest clear conditions! He had to experience at least 100 cla.s.ses. The degree of difficulty of the quest was high enough to be absurd.
‘I have been postponing it because it’s annoying...’
Grid wanted to observe not just the 30,000 Pangea residents, but also the 800,000 people who made up the kingdom. Would there be a named NPC cla.s.sified as a genius among them?
‘I can’t be too greedy.’
Grid wanted a level of ordinary talent that could ‘fit’ in each field. If he could deploy the people efficiently, the labor shortage of the Overgeared Kingdom would be greatly resolved.
‘I need to prepare my heart.’
Grid took a deep breath and rose from his throne.
"From now on, I will travel in disguise.”
h.e.l.l had begun.
50 days pa.s.sed.
Grid mixed in among the people and experienced two jobs every day. He served in a restaurant, cleaned a toilet, managed bedding, escorted someone as a guard, and performed secret missions for different guilds. It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that he experienced most jobs in Reinhardt. Grid didn’t realize it, but it was possible purely because he was Grid.
Think about it. How many players could perform all the tasks? For example, a player with a knight cla.s.s wouldn’t be able to perform secret missions for the a.s.sa.s.sin’s Guild. They didn’t have the ability for it. But Grid had high stats and was overgeared.
It was easy to clear the secret mission of the a.s.sa.s.sin’s Guild using his high agility and the Hooded Zip Up. In the Magician’s Guild mission, he used Magic Missile and Belial’s Staff. He was also a big hit in the Tanker’s Guild. The mission of ‘tanking the enemy’s attacks while escorting a peddler’ was easily cleared. Grid had once tanked 100,000 enemies alone. Other ordinary tankers performing the quest said that ‘a monster guard who surpa.s.ses Vantner has appeared.’
“Is Grid a munchkin?”
"Munchkin?" (TL: Generally used to describe players who play games in an overly compet.i.tive way. Rather than enjoy the game itself, they play the game for a certain goal, often at the expense of other people. In Korean novels, it means a fraudulently strong character who ignores the power balance.)
“A type of character in fantasy novels.”
“...”
The Overgeared members wondered when they saw Grid’s current situation. It was like Grid was playing a completely different game by himself. Grid had now become a fraudulent caricature. But Grid didn’t think so.
‘I’m still rising.’
He was a legend who glimpsed the myths, but he wasn’t really a legend. What did this mean? The possibility of a myth cla.s.s was opened up, but he was still incompetent compared to previous legends. He was incomplete. He wasn’t yet one or the other. This was how Grid a.s.sessed himself.
‘A bit more. No, a lot more.’
He would try and do his best. Grow further. He would become competent. Grid pledged while working in Reinhardt.
There were all types of rumors flying in Reinhardt for the 50 days he concealed his ident.i.ty.
“A genius magician has emerged in Reinhardt.”
"A genius a.s.sa.s.sin has emerged in Reinhardt...”
"A genius cleaner has emerged in Reinhardt...”
"A genius ma.s.seur...”
All the rumors were talking about Grid. Grid didn’t know. The 50 days of rumors led to more players entering the Overgeared Kingdom. In particular, many people wanted to meet the ma.s.seur. Some people speculated that the person’s skills were so excellent that the ‘legendary ma.s.seur’ cla.s.s had appeared.
***
“This is the last one.”
While Grid was performing the 50 day quest. Peak Sword was completing the mission that Grid gave him. The mission was in reality, not the game. It was to find the Dungeon Maker, Eat Spicy Jokbal. It was a very important mission.
"I have been eating only spicy jokbal all month...”
Peak Sword searched the Internet and found there were a total of 109 stores where spicy jokbal was available. There was a fairly large jokbal chain. Would he find a clue to the ‘Dungeon Maker’ in one of the 109 stores? Peak Sword spent a fortnight visiting jokbal stores and eating spicy jokbal every day. His lips were sore and his heartburn was driving him crazy.
"Welcome."
Haenam, South Jeolla Province. In the southernmost part of South Korea, there was a spicy jokbal store. It was a great distance from Seoul. Peak Sword grumbled as he entered the store and skillfully ordered spicy jokbal.
"One small spicy jokbal. Please add a bit of starch syrup to make it taste less sweet and stir fry it over a high heat.”
“I understand.”
This wasn’t the type of person who ate spicy jokbal once or twice. The owner of the spicy jokbal store in Haenam noticed that Peak Sword was a gourmet. Then he started to cook the spicy jokbal. After a moment.
“Please enjoy.”
The owner himself brought out the spicy jokbal. He seemed very confident in the taste. Peak Sword faced him and declared.
“Dark.”
“...?”
“Blood Carnival.”
"...??"
“Insane dragon egg.”
"...???"
Peak Sword observed the owner of the restaurant carefully every time he spoke. The owner would be the Dungeon Maker if he showed any shaky signs at all. But the owner wasn’t shaken. He returned to the kitchen like Peak Sword was strange. A chill went down Peak Sword’s spine.
“Not here either?”
He had visited 109 spicy jokbal stores all over the country and hadn’t met the Dungeon Maker? In other words.
“The worst... Perhaps the Dungeon Maker that Grid spoke about isn’t a person who runs a spicy jokbal store. He might just love spicy jokbal.”
Then would he have to go around to all 109 stores and ask them for a list of regulars?
“Ah, s.h.i.+t.”
Peak Sword ate all of the spicy jokbal and returned to his van. It was a luxury van with a Satisfy capsule installed. Peak Sword sat in the capsule and told his driver.
"Wake me up when we get home.”
“Yep.”
Bururung.
The van returned to Seoul. The owner of the spicy jokbal restaurant lit his cigarette and watched the van move away.
“Sigh... I moved to this faraway place, yet a demon still came. Grid, you really aren’t an ordinary person. You’re cruel and tenacious.”
It was fortunate that he looked different from his character in the game. The president of the spicy jokbal store was so relieved that he was sweating. He was panicked and seriously wondering if he should go abroad. At this moment, Peak Sword’s van returned.
“Hey Boss.”
Dururuk.
Peak Sword opened the door of the van. He smiled at the owner of the spicy jokbal store, who was trying to maintain a calm expression.
“You’re the Dungeon Maker, Eat Spicy Jokbal?”
"What do you mean?"
"Your restaurant doesn’t have a TV. It’s a characteristic of Satisfy players to neglect the TV.”
“...”
"Boss, you don’t watch TV and you don’t even have a TV in your restaurant for customers. How about it? Isn’t this reasoning worthy of the president of the Patriotic a.s.sociation? I boast the excellent brain of someone who grew up eating soybean paste and kimchi.”
"...Aren’t there a few restaurants without a TV?”
"Yes, that’s why I wasn’t sure at first. But you’re wearing sungla.s.ses. Why would the owner of a spicy jokbal store wear sungla.s.ses? You wanted to hide. It’s your face. Right?”
“...Amazing. You’re worthy of being the president of the Patriotic Society.”
Flap.
The boss of the spicy jokbal store took off his ap.r.o.n. He couldn’t avoid this situation and was ready to face it.
“Is it because Cork Island was destroyed by Blood Carnival? Bring it on. I’ll deal with you.”
He had been playing games since before Satisfy was released. The boss of the Haenam spicy jokbal store had a career of at least 10 years. He raised his fist confidently while Peak Sword felt confused.
"Does G.o.d Grid and the Overgeared Guild have such a narrow mindset? Don’t make me laugh. We just wanted to meet you."
“What? You have no hard feelings towards the head of Blood Carnival?”
“It’s something to be proud of. A South Korean was the head of a powerful force. I feel pride as president of the Patriotic a.s.sociation. I’m a bit embarra.s.sed that it’s a vicious force.”
“...”
“Then I’ll be going. If you ever want to join the Overgeared Guild, feel free to contact me.”
Peak Sword placed his business card in the store and left leisurely. He thought he was cool.