- Stop there, scoundrel! I, Commander MaxFarts of the Republic of Farcry, command thee!

“Urgh, so shameful…”

MaxFarts. Republic of Farcry. Such nice parodies, right? After all, not everyone… I mean, anyone, played Another World seriously - except for a very small minority.

Most hardcore role-players would migrate to high-immersion private servers and deal with it the hardcore way : By putting all of their money on their own personas and forgetting about the real world.

Still, now Max had to use his in-game parody name to do something about the other player being harassed in front of him.

- Tsc. Commander of Farcry, so what?! I, Duke Wellington, shall not submit to any foreign powers while on my own territory! By the power of the Imperial Edict, submit!

The black-hearted piggy duke waved his hand, and the space around Max’s avatar seemed to tremble a bit. That was because, all around him, dust particles fell to the ground and the air became exceptionally heavy.

But, as for Max himself, he suffered no changes.

- How is this possible?! The piggy duke had an expression of restrained anger on his face, as Max simply waved and dispelled the power around him. - A diplomat?!!, Damnit!!

- As the Special Envoy and Diplomat of Farcry, by the order of his Majesty Yrwin, Emperor of Furuk Empire, I hereby sentence Duke Wellington to home imprisonment for five days! May he reflect on his actions and on the many perils of almost causing war between our countries!

- Tsc! You will pay for this! - The fat dukes’ body was immediately covered with a black fog-like substance, and then this substance turned into black cuffs on his hands, neck, torso and feet. - Once your diplomatic grace period is over, don’t even think of leaving this town alive!

The duke had no other option if not to be dragged home, as his feet moved without his consent. The diplomatic grace period was a given to anyone who was on diplomatic mission towards another country, and the home imprisonment was the heaviest punishment one could infringe upon someone of a Dukes’ caliber.

- Ah, thank you. Thank you very much.

- You’re welcome. ‘Human Explorer’, eh? You sure are a rare fellow with a class such as this. Why didn’t you become a hunter or druid instead? - MaxFarts was an half-dwelf-half-human (meaning his pseudo-parents in the game were a dwelf, that is, the child of an elf and a dwarf, and a human), so he was quite a rare spectacle by himself, with his weird race. Still, “Explorer” was an even rarer class.

- I just like exploring, I guess? - Raphael had a cramped smile. If his class was something like Druid or Hunter, then the NPC noble probably wouldn’t have had picked a fight with him. The druid and hunter guilds were pretty strong on Furuk, after all, and turning one of them on a slave would be quite hefty even for an emperor - what to say about a noble.

- He. I guess only guys like us would still be on this game after everything…

Max had quite the story himself, so he didn’t pry further on Raphaels’ reasons. By his answer, it was quite clear that he didn’t do it merely for fun.

- Say, what was that all about? - Raphael motioned with his hands, and Max started to follow him in order to walk away from the city entrance. The last thing they needed was to start a “no lollygagging’” side quest for obstructing the flow on the streets.

- Ah, I guess it’s about the emperors’ proclamation? The NPC nobles are going crazy after people with the “player skill tree”… even if it doesn’t exist. That damn Yrwin, is he doing this on purpose or something?!

There wasn’t something as a “player skill tree” in the game, but the NPCs’ A.I. could still look for any players with “player” in their status screen and try to present it as someone with the “player skill tree”.

- Was there something like this?! To think I would find an Emperor still remaining on this world. I thought people who played Emperors would be quite rich in real life…

Premium items were a must in highly-competitive PVP. Being an Emperor was such a scene, so, most in-game player nobility was, indeed, part of the “real world nobility” of rich people as well.

- Money can’t buy everything, you know?... Max sighed, as both walked through the streets and to the palace.