Chapter 214

When addressing an overwhelmingly large crowd, a certain level of showmanship was essential, especially when leading them. Seojin had provided generous gifts to the eight thousand players who had stepped into the Empire.

“Those who have received their gifts, please move to the side. It’s all recorded, so don’t try to get seconds. It’s a waste of effort for both of us.”

“This isn’t all there is. I wouldn’t just ask you to invest your time for just a single unique item. As you might have seen with Churai Island, the main course is the quest rewards.”

Seojin was aware that the offer of a single unique equipment piece could draw players like moths to a flame. But that was for the average player. To entice the top-tier players, something more substantial had to be offered.

“Let’s talk about our quest objective. Our enemy is not the Empire. There will be no war between the Empire and Valaran, we just need to capture the emperor. He’s known as Grand Emperor Kalus, an NPC.”

He laid the groundwork with a statement that seemed almost nonsensical at first glance. Claiming they needed to target the head of a nation, without inciting a war, sounded absurd.

Yet, only a few players seemed puzzled. They were dealing with Seojin, whose achievements so far had been nothing short of miraculous.

“We might even persuade a significant number of the Empire’s key NPCs. When we first entered this place, we uncovered quite an interesting clue.”

The crowd was already hanging on Seojin’s every word, driven by curiosity. The implausible was expected to be made plausible by them, given their trust in Seojin’s capabilities.

“It was a trace of the evil gods. Gramaticus. A name familiar to those who enjoyed Asgard.”

Seojin paused, letting the information sink in. The crowd was now sufficiently stirred up, with reactions ranging from those who anticipated something big, to those intrigued by the mention of Gramaticus, and others still trying to grasp the situation.

“We’ve found evidence suggesting a deep connection between the emperor and an evil god, and we’re confident about it. Some are already moving to persuade other NPCs.”

That was all the explanation given. Seojin fell silent, waiting for the buzz of conversation to die down before continuing.

“The details can be verified and judged by you. I’ll share the quest now.”

Shareable recipients: 8377

Sharing raid and quest.

Abruptly, Seojin shared the quest. The murmuring rose again.

And then

Quest shared

Quest shared

Quest shared

…

Notifications popped up at a frenzied pace.

One thousand. Two thousand. The numbers increased by hundreds in the blink of an eye.

The quest Seojin shared was the recently updated to -Root of Evil.

Main Quest: Root of Evil

*An empty void and two red eyes emitting a sinister aura, known as the symbol of the evil god, Gramaticus.

*The Army of the Dead, the emperor’s personal guard, can only be commanded by an apostle of the evil god.

*Darkness must be eradicated. Eliminate the apostle of the evil god and restore the glory of light to Salevania.

*Primary Objective: Eliminate the apostle of Gramaticus.

The quest was simple and straightforward. The quest’s sole objective was to defeat the emperor, identified as an apostle of the evil god, Gramaticus.

Quest shared

Quest shared

Quest shared

…

The players’ excitement was palpable, given the scale of the quest they were now part of. The adversary was no less than an apostle of an evil god, and the rewards from quests in Midgard were known to match their difficulty.

However, Seojin remained unswayed by the growing excitement.

‘It’s not time yet.’

About four thousand participants had joined. The pace of acceptance had slowed, suggesting that those who impulsively jumped in were out, leaving only those seriously considering the magnitude of the undertaking.

But then,

Root of Evil – Quest Participants: 5,000

The moment exactly five thousand players accepted the quest, a dramatic announcement made its presence felt.

The Kingdom of Valaran has entered Act 1. The Final Chapter!

With the sound of drums, the message appeared in the air.

* * *

The Midgard community was, without exaggeration, boiling over. The message that had just surfaced indicated that the Kingdom of Valaran was entering its Final Chapter. It was a piece of news that all players across the realm could see.

-Wasn’t Act like a patch version or something?

-What does final chapter even mean? Is this the last content for this patch?

-This is Anti-Mainstream’s doing, right? Are there any spots left if I head to Valaran now?

-?????? What’s going on???

Up until now, there was only one type of message that would appear in this manner: the end of a world quest. It was only in this instance that all players within the kingdom would be notified. But what appeared now? It was something they had never encountered before.

-What’s this??? What happened???

Questions poured in, and answers were not slow to return.

-I joined the Empire’s raid team, and it seems it’s because of us.

Players who had shared the quest from Seojin. Seojin had told them they were free to discuss the details, and the players openly shared the specifics in the community.

-The starting condition was to share the quest with 5,000 people…

-Anti-Mainstream originally entered Act 1’s main story. This quest is the last of it.

-You could probably come now?? The more, the merrier, they said.

The Final Chapter of the First Act.

It was because over five thousand players had gathered for the same quest, that the Kingdom of Valaran could enter as a whole. As such, this fact was made public to other players as well. But that wasn’t all.

-This message didn’t just appear in Valaran, right?

World quests were, after all, quests bound to a nation. Even if Valaran cleared the world quest for this round, quests in other nations were a different matter.

-Didn’t something like this happen before? When the desert turned into a forest?

But a continental quest was different. It was something all players across various nations could be aware of, just as when Seojin had reclaimed the ancient forest of Salevania. And this time, it was the same scenario.

“I’ll need you three to help me. I need you to post the information on your national forums. We’re accepting anyone, regardless of nationality or job. You don’t have to hide any details.”

Seojin was addressing the overseas players he had recruited early on: Montblanc, Conis, and Kargar. While going through the domestic Strategic Planning Department was an option, such content would spread like wildfire the moment it was released anyway. And not long after,

-Construction of the fleet has started!

-The Kingdom of Pianus has also begun constructing their fleet. For now, they’re quickly borrowing as much as they can from the large trading companies.

News from other nations arrived. The response was immediate. In some cases, the king himself responded to the strong requests of the players, or in others, large guilds collected gold to take action themselves. The word ‘Final Chapter of the First Chapter’ held enough significance to warrant such a response.

“Tons of articles are even coming out about it. Has Midgard always been a game with such a huge impact?”

Merhen, a man Seojin had known for a long time, muttered with astonishment in his voice. It seemed the situation had grown larger than expected. Seojin’s actions had been groundbreaking until now, but they had not spread beyond the game community. Now, even mainstream media were beginning to publish articles about it, albeit slowly.

“That makes sense. It’s a national pride thing.” Seojin laughed.

The articles from the news outlets were mostly of a similar tone. The Kingdom of Valaran, or in essence, the players of the Korean server, had made a global impact through Midgard. It was possible because it was a game with over 100 million players.

“National pride, huh….”

“Special forces? Are they saved?”

“Done. Filled it with rankers.”

“And the equipment supplies?”

“Done. I never knew people’s eyes could get so round.”

Merhen chuckled. They had distributed unique equipment to the general raid members. However, the special forces organized by Seojin were provided with legendary equipment, all imbued with divine power, without exception.

“The rankers are going to make some money.”

“But it’s legendary. The base price is in the hundreds of millions, so how could they not be surprised? And they got it for free.”

“Not for free. They might die.”

“Well, for me,” Merhen said emphatically, “I would have died over ten times over just for a piece of that equipment in the past. It’s exciting, you know.”

“And now?”

“I could die ten times over even without the equipment. Happily. The process is the most enjoyable, isn’t it?”

Merhen grinned, a smile that Seojin hadn’t seen in a long time, one that he always wore in Asgard.

-The army is departing. There’s a lot of them.

A message arrived from Flappy.

-About how many?

-Not sure… seems like tens of thousands? Can’t be sure.

Tens of thousands would be part of the royal central army. Considering the disappearance of the defense minister, along with the suspicious behavior of key figures recently, it was a plausible number. But the core issue was elsewhere.

-What about the guys in masks?

-Don’t see them… Should I look closer? They might be hiding somewhere.

-Probably not there. Just keep watching for now.

-Fight them?

-Depends on the situation.

“Let’s get ready. The central army is on its way. Roughly tens of thousands, but the exact number is unclear.”

“…Tens of thousands?” Merhen’s eyes widened.

“How will we handle so many? Fight them?”

“There’s no reason we can’t fight them off.”

“Well, obviously we could win. We have eight thousand players on our side. If we kill all of them, more soldiers will come from the Empire, and then…”

“You’re worried it’ll cause bad blood between us and other players? If that’s what you mean, no we won’t fight.”

“We won’t fight? Then what?”

“There’s no need to fight them head-on. Our opponents haven’t revealed their full strength yet. It’s not even a quest directed by the emperor, so it’s unrelated to our quest objectives.”

The goal provided by Root of Evil was to defeat the apostles of Gramaticus. This incident was merely a unilateral order by Defense Minister Fyod, unrelated to that objective.

“They’re after Fyod, right?”

“To recruit him?”

“Not now. We’re going to lose. To buy some time and further empty their main forces. Our numbers will continue to increase anyway.”

The best thing about being a player was that even if they died, they could return after a week. But what about the opposing NPCs? If they died, they were gone for good.

“Let’s gather people who want to finish early and rest. We’ll retreat while minimizing the damage.”

“And the rewards?”

“Of course, they’ll get them. According to their abilities. The key is this.” Seojin held up his index finger.

“How convincingly we can lose. We have to act not as if we are letting them win, but as if our side is too weak and thus defeated.”