Author’s corner: HELLO HELLO! 3 CHAPTERS TO GO!

ANYWAY, this chapter took some time since, in the three last days I suffered from: Having to move back to my house(was on my beach house), Sheer lack of drive(this is worse than you might think), and having to work on a project during the afternoon. So this delayed the release of this chapter.

ALSO, today I introduce a character that I’m sure none of you even dreamed of it happening with my super subtle foreshadowing. *Wink wink* And some other things as well. Actually had a blast with the titles.

ALSO(2), STILL HAVE TIME TO ACCEPT YOUR QUESTIONS FOR THE Q&A! COME ON GUYS! GOT NEXT TO NOTHING RIGHT NOW!

Have a good read!

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Seeing that I had already spent most of my time with this massive city-wide play, I quickly jumped back to my feet and dusted off the snow from my gear. Looking around, I caught sight of a certain cat’s tail that popped off from the ground. Approaching it, I grabbed the tail and pulled Lieutenant off from the snow.

The cat squirmed a couple of times before looking up… Or down to me, I guess, seeing how he was upside down, and gave me a wry smile while doing a very poorly executed salute.

I smiled kindly at him, which made him sigh in relief. Then I threw him over my shoulder and down into the snow mound behind. While the scene went on, I saw as the inhabitants of the city raised themselves from the snow laughing cheerfully, saying things like how it was interesting and that they should do it again another day.

From the looks of it, almost all of the city was caught up in this play, and the ones that didn’t directly participate in the civil war, were helping in the background while cooking food and healing the ones that somehow got hurt in the play. Seeing that it wasn’t all that bad of a thing, I nodded satisfied. In a way, the only true victim of this thing was Lucas, wasn’t he?

While I gave a silent and totally serious prayer for his poor soul… Totally serious, by the way, I looked around, searching for Aura, Crys and Rio. The three quickly came down from the sky or rooftops and stood besides me. Crys had a strange look of satisfaction while Rio kept flying around cheerfully while giggling. Aura didn’t waste time before quickly pressing her head against my hand asking for a petting.

Preparing to start the petting, I stopped suddenly when a huge blue window popped up in front of me. From the looks of it, it was the same for the others, as they stared at the air vaguely for a moment.

You played a huge part on the event that is now known as the Snowball wars of Wichcrad, being the Monster that was defeated so that the city of Wichcrad could be freed from the tyranny of the General and his White demon, thus you have earned the title:

The Monster Martyr

Since you have a title equipped, you will need to go to a cathedral to change your titleThe Monster Martyr: You, who are considered a monster, yet a martyr of the people.NPCs will be more likely to either fear or respect you, based on how they see you.

Your pet Lieutenant General Whiskers McBallofur Maximilliamus Von Scratchy the Third played a huge part on the event that is now known as the Snowball wars of Wichcrad, being the one who started this whole play and the Tyrant who ruled the city for a brief time. Thus, he have earned the title:

The Playful Tyrant

Since he have a title equipped, you will need to go to a cathedral to change his titleThe Playful Tyrant: Your natural ability to influence people into plays is remarkable, to the point that a war was started because of it. While using this title, you are more likely to have people join you in large plays

Your pet Aura played a huge part on the event that is now known as the Snowball wars of Wichcrad, being the first one to put up a fight against the Tyrant and striving until the end. Thus, she have earned the title:

The Tailed Savior

Since she have a title equipped, you will need to go to a cathedral to change her titleThe Tailed savior: Being the one to protect the innocent like a knight in watery armor arose their respect for you. Using this title will make it more likely for others to respect and venerate you instinctively.

Your pet Crys played a huge part on the event that is now known as the Snowball wars of Wichcrad, being the one who brought an end to the tyrant with her attack and bringing an end to the war. Thus, she have earned the title:

The Tyrant Slayer

Since she doesn’t have a title equipped, this will be set as her default title.The Tyrant slayer: Your fierce victory over the tyrant made you his natural enemy. The effects of Tyrant titles are less likely to affect you and you can bring them down with greater ease. Your aura also grows fiercer and can be used to intimidate people.

…

Wow. So many titles! I guess that we did make a fairly big event here if we got so many titles. While smiling wryly, I heard a certain cat meowing cheerfully behind me.

“Nyaa na-nyaa! Nyaa na-nyaa!~~

Nyaa-nana nya-nana NA nanyaa!~~”

Hearing Lieutenant singing so cheerfully, it didn’t take much for me to understand that he was all happy because of his title. Looking back at him, I saw as he looked at me and gave an evil looking smile while rubbing his paws together like a villain from a b-rated movie.

Pointing towards him with a victorious smile, I sad:

“Crys. You take care of him for me, will you?”

“Yes, master!” She said in an intimidating tone, making Lieutenant shiver in fear as he stared at the crystal elemental that slowly made her way towards him.

“Neh! Why did you stop, stone-mister?” Rio asked me suddenly. Blinking surprised, I turned to the small wyvern and looked at her.

“Oh, we received some titles… We were just checking them.” I said briefly, but the wyvern simply tilted her head confused.

“Tai-tous?” She asked confused, but she didn’t seem to linger too much on before landing on my head and letting out a long tired yawn “Muu… I’m tired from playing. Going to sleep a bit, stone-mister!”

I smiled wryly before quickly bringing up the menu and checking Rio’s status. There wasn’t anything about her receiving a title. It seems that her participation wasn’t enough to consider her worthy of a title.

While feeling a bit of pity towards the small dragon sleeping in my head, I decided that I would repay her soon enough by making her something after the hunt.

…

Arriving at the lord’s house, with Crys dragging a tied-up Lieutenant through the ground, I knocked on the front door. It was a bit late in the afternoon, but with since I could see some of the rooms lit up, I thought that there was someone that could receive me here.

Luckily, as I guessed, it didn’t take much longer for the door to open and the red-haired butler to appear. He looked at me surprised for a moment before making a motion for me to come in.

“Hello again, Oldir.” I greeted the butler. He seemed surprised for a moment before nodding to me.

“Greetings, Sir Gondorrer.” He said with a nod. “The master is in his room talking with a certain Chosen right now, but he said that there shouldn’t be a problem to let you in on the occasion that you arrived.” He said before glancing briefly towards Aura and Co who followed me this time.

“A chosen?” I asked surprised. “Is it Argento?”

“No. Your companion is in one of the suits resting for the moment.” Oldir said with a smirk. “After negotiating the airship, he started a business negotiations with Lord Wich that lasted until recently, so he is now resting.” I see, so Argento didn’t lose this chance to make a few extra bucks, did he?

For some reason, I can’t help but feel that he chose the wrong race to play in here. He should have chosen a white-feathered harpy that uses a tophat and a monocle. That way he could have built a gigantic safehouse where he would put all his gold coins and swim in it as his daily bath.

Also, he should have named himself Scrooge.

Well, these are just my thoughts. While smiling to myself at my silly mental jokes, Oldir took me to the same door as the one I was in earlier and knocked on it a couple of times. Making a signal for me to wait for a moment, he entered the room.

While I awaited for me cue to go in, I noticed how some of the maids working around the house kept staring at me and all my pets that had been following me. One of the closer ones even looked at Aura with a curious gaze. Aura gave her a slightly curious gaze before yawning getting closer to me, rubbing her head against my leg asking for a petting.

After indulging her for a while, I heard a voice telling me to come in, so I quickly entered the room, finding the three dwarves, Oldir, Lord Wich and San the Wich. Holding back a snicker, I also caught sight of the last person in the room.

It was a mummy. Wrapped in old greyish bandages with spiral markings that ran through their edges, they were in a surprisingly good state despite their apparent age, barely showing any wear or tear. The eyes were a pair of cold grey lights that came from a small opening in the bandages, and the mouth wasn’t exactly seen.

From the build I guessed that it was a man, but the ceremonial leather robes he wore made it a bit difficult to be sure. On his waist was a ornate knife and what looked like some kind of tree branch. Quickly focusing on him made the nickname “Ozzur” pop up above his head.

Meanwhile he was also analyzing me, and after a brief moment he made what looked like a sigh, although I couldn’t be sure since the bandages muffled the sound.

“Heya, Gon lad!” San, the bald but black-bearded dwarf greeted me with a nod.

“Hi San.” I said with a nod before turning to the white haired dwarf. “Lord Wich.”

“Gondorrer.” He greeted me back before turning towards the mummy. “This one here is Gollus Ozar. He also offered to help with the problem in the mines.” Oh? Raising an eyebrow I looked at the mummy again for a moment, noticing how he looked surprised.

“I see… You did say that there was another taker, so this is him?” The mummy said with a deep and serious voice.

“Ermm… yeah...” I said feeling a bit guilty for having taken his job from him. Seeing my awkwardness, the Ozzur quickly went on to try and talk to me.

“Well, you did get the job first, so I won’t try to take it from you.” He said with a brief shake of his head. “However, if you wouldn’t mind, I would like to offer you my help on this adventure.”

“Help… is it?” I said a bit awkwardly. How do I explain to him that I’m planning on going solo? As I tried to think my way through it, he quickly went to explain.

“There’s no need to worry. I am a Shaman Healer. I’m sure I can be of use for your group!”

“Waah… A shaman mummy? Isn’t that wrong?” I said out loud a bit surprised. Ozzur didn’t react too much about it, but I quickly recovered and shook my head. “No, it’s not a matter of being fit or not… it’s just that...” I took a glance towards the dwarves who were talking between themselves. I had already explained my idea to them, but I don’t think they really believed me.

“Ah, I see. You already have a full group.” He said with an understanding nod.

“That’s…” Seeing that I was kind of being backed into a corner, I quickly slapped my cheeks to recover from the mummy’s barrage of attacks. “Okay. No. I don’t have a group. I plan on going solo.”

My words seemed to confuse the mummy, and I saw as he stopped a moment to think. Taking this chance into mind, I turned towards lord Wich and asked him about the earlier negotiations. The dwarf looked at me for a moment before nodding.

He made a motion for me to sit on the couch, and as soon as I was ready, he gave me a rundown of the negotiations. Firstly, it seemed that he had already paid Argentos’ commission in gold, so this meant that whatever method I choose as a payment, I will owe the gnome nothing. Nodding to these points, I asked for lord Wich to go on.

Next, he said that, after some negotiations, they decided on three possible methods to repay me. One was, of course, a hefty sum of gold. This one would be the most immediate of the methods, so I could reap the benefit and be done with it. The second was for me to get a share of whatever profit the ship brought to the city from now on. This one was a long term investment, but also the one that would bring me the most benefits on the long run.

However, the last one was caught my attention. He offered to pay not with money, but properties. I sincerely became surprised at this idea, as he offered me a certain terrain just outside the city, and offered to also build me a house there.

This one was slightly odd, seeing how the value of the terrain and the house-building would probably out value the gold share by a fair amount. However, I wouldn't get any monetary benefit from it, so it was a fairly conflicting decision.

Rather, it also made things complicated, as Yuu and I were going to share the reward, so the house isn't exactly something I should take blindly. If it was money, all i’d need to do was to split it with Yuu, but a house isn’t that simple.

And if I thought about it, having a house wouldn’t make much sense seeing how I’ll be travelling around for a good time.

“Master, it might be better if you hold the decision a bit more.” Crys told me a moment before I decided to set the property reward aside. “Having a house is a bit different for Chosen than it is for the people of this land.” I frowned a little at her words before turning to her. I didn’t miss the fact that Ozzur stared at her in shock. “I planned on telling this to both you and miss Yuu once you returned, but since you didn’t return together, I ended up missing the opportunity.” She looked away slightly embarrassed, and all I could do was look at her in a deadpan.

“I don’t mind if you take a bit longer with your decision.” Lord Wich told me briefly. “Although needed, we don’t have any urgency for an airship right now.”

“Hmm… That helps. Once I get to talk with Yuu I’ll tell you my answer.” He nodded at my decision. “Meanwhile, you can have the ship anyway.”

“Wha…?”

“Not like I have a way to use it, do I?” I asked wryly.

“...Yes. Thanks for your comprehension.” Lord Wich said with a nod. “I’ll make sure to repay you in kind when you make your decision.”

You have transferred the possession of the following items:The pirate airship is now owned by the Lord of Wichcrad.

payment still to be decided

Seeing the window that popped up, it didn’t take too long for Lord Wich to tell something to the butler, who left the room. Probably going to prepare the airship to whatever they were going to use it for.

Seeing how I had already finished what I could do here when it came to the ship, the matter at hand quickly changed back into being about the monster in the mine. Ozzur had already recovered from his shock and stared at me dubiously. Well, I think it was dubiously. It’s hard to say when you don’t have a face to judge his emotions.

“If you are going to tackle it alone, does that means your pets are that powerful?” San asked the question that probably hung on everyone’s head.

“No. Master will probably forbid us from interfering with his fight too.” Crys explained with a sigh.

The dwarves and the Mummy all froze in space for a moment as they processed the elemental’s words. When they stared at me confused, I simply shrugged and nodded. No use nor need to try to hiding it, right?

“Yeah. I’ll go solo. Literally.”

“...Then, are you actually really high level?” Ozzur asked confused. “If that’s so, why would you go after the spider? I don’t think it drops anything that would be useful for you if you can kill it alon...” His words suddenly trailed off as he stared at me in shock.

“Nah. I’m level 31. Not that high.” I said ignoring his shock. This seemed to shock him before he sighed in relief. I felt confused by his reaction, but didn’t delve too much into it. “Also, not going for the drops.”

“And I don’t think ya’re going just because ya’re nice either.” San said with a smirk.

“I plead guilty.” I said in a solemn tone before smirking. “Nah. I’m going because: One. It’s fun.” I said while raising my finger. “Two: it’s what I do.” Another finger. “Three: I’m suffering a serious hunting withdrawal.” Another one. “Four: it’s fun.” One more. “Five: To get crafting materials!”

“You said its fun twice...” San said with a deadpan look.

“I know.” I nodded back in a serious tone.

“Wait. Crafting materials?” Ozzur asked shocked. Noticing his strange reaction I blinked and turned to him, seeing how he stared at me once again… Rather, he was staring at my gear. “Crafting materials… Unique looking but uniform gear...”

What the hell is a unique looking uniform gear? Although I felt like asking him that, I ignored the urge. Turning towards the dwarves I said.

“Look. As you may have noticed, although I can say that I should be able to do something about it, it might take some time to defeat the spider. This way it won’t bother me if you send an actual group to take care of it, alright?” I warned them.

I mean, I could take everyone there and deal with it immediately, but that’s not my style of dealing with things, right? However, as much as I say that, it’s also a matter of importance for the city, so dragging it around too much isn’t something I should do.

At my words, I couldn’t help but feel that Lord Wich and San both stared at me like I had gone mad or something, but after a moment they finally sighed loudly in synchrony and nodded heavily.

“Alright. I’ll let you go and try to deal with it while we build an attack force of our own here.” Lord Wich said heavily, and I couldn’t help but feel like jumping cheerfully. “It should take us around two to three days to prepare something strong enough to take care of that safely. You have until then.”

Two to three days? Easy peasy!

QUEST:

Miner HunterA gigantic Sulfuric Impaler matriarch has invaded the mine from the Wichcrad County. After some talk, you have convinced the lord of the city to give you some time as you try to take on the spider alone. However, you have until the city’s attack forces arrive to deal with it.Rewards:

Whatever the Spider drops.

Bonus to mining skill.

Defeat the spider alone and your name will be sung for generations in the county.

Other rewards may follow based on negotiations with the lord of the city.

Ooh! a quest window! How long since I last saw one of those?

And author, stop grumbling your hatred for windows. You brought this upon yourself.

Anyway, nodding for the fact that I truly received the quest as I wanted, I quickly thanked the two dwarves and asked them how I should reach the mine. San told me that he would get a carriage to carry me there while Lord Wich seemed interested in convincing Ozzur to start working on the reserve team.

Seeing that I would have to wait for a moment anyway, I decided to go and wander a bit outside while I started thinking on the experiments I would have to start.

But, the moment I stepped outside of the building, I heard as some hurried footsteps approached me, and barely did I turn back I saw as the Mummy held on the door so that it wouldn’t close.

“YOUR GEAR! HURRY! SHOW ME IT ALL!!” He said in an almost desperate voice.

Whaaaaat?

“...Sorry I don’t swing that way.” I replied bluntly to his odd request. The mummy stared blankly at me for a moment before shaking his head.

“That’s not what I meant! I want to see your gear stats!” He said in an hurried tone. “Please, show it to me!”

I took a step back from the mummy’s sudden fierce attitude, but seeing how there wasn’t any harm done in complying to his request, I nodded weakly before opening the menu and fiddling around it until I reached the option I wanted.

After that, piece after piece of my gear I showed to him, and with each one he saw, his eyes became… Brighter? I guess that’s how mummies show their eyes widening.

After one minute when I had linked him everything, his attitude took a full 180 degrees turn. His hurried atmosphere disappeared and a notebook and writing pen poofed into existence on his hands. Holding them while looking fiercely at me he said.

“Mister Wargon. This character is called Ozzur, and I work under another player called Oerthus Foulhorn.” Hmm? That name is vaguely familiar… “I’m a reporter for the Insania Online section of the Sword and Keyboard channel.” Ah! He’s that reporter from the TV earlier! “If you wouldn’t mind, could you give me an interview?”

“Huh? Me? Did you ask the correct person?” I asked a bit confused as my mind slowly started to absorb the information he gave me.

“Yes. Seeing that you own the famous Burning soul set, this means that you are the real Wargon that got so many game-firsts in the crafting area of the game, aren’t you?” He asked me in a serious tone.

“Huh… Yeah, I guess?” I replied while scratching my head awkwardly.

“Excellent! Now please, could you answer a few questions for me?”

“Nah.”

“Good… I’ll start with… ” He froze when he heard my answer before slowly looking back up to me. “...What?”

“Ugh… How do I explain it? Seeing your reaction just now… kind of leaves me a bit worried with what will happen if other players find out I’m the real deal.” I said while imagining the chaos it would be once players found out my face. If this guy reacted like that, imagine what would happen if I walked around in a crowded street?

Besides, if he starts asking too many questions he might reduce my hunting time.

Yeah, that one is more probably the real reason to be honest.

“Ahh...” Ozzur stared at me in shock for a moment before shaking his head. “No. I can’t let such a scoop escape me!” He said to himself before staring at me. “I promise to protect your anonymity. No one will ever know of your appearance!”

Gaah! I didn’t expect him to be so insistent. He’s one of the type I’m bad with!

While I thought so, I heard a sound as a carriage approached us. Turning around, I saw San sitting on the driver’s spot while holding the reins of two bull-like monsters with stone in their backs.

“Climb on lad. We need to leave now if we are to arrive before day-break!” He said cheerfully.

I didn’t take one more second of thought before I jumped up on the carriage and made a motion for him to go ahead. Finding a place between the barrels that crowded up the wagon, I took a seat and sighed deeply. However…

“Wait a second! I’m also going in!”

GAAAH! STAY HERE YOU DENSE MUMMY!

As the carriage stopped again, Ozzur quickly jumped in the carriage and his eyes scanned the insides like a bird of prey searching for his dinner. As his eyes landed on me, he quickly made his way to my sides and sat down besides Aura, who made a slightly displeased face.

“Even if you refuse to talk to me. At least I will get a scoop on how the famous Wargon lives his daily life!” He said with a satisfied nod.

“...Are you really going to follow me no matter where I go?” I asked a bit worried, but the mummy nodded.

“As a gaming reporter, to find someone as unique as you around is a once in a life-time chance!” He said with a fierce determination. “I’ll squeeze your acts dry of information even if it takes my whole experience back to level one!”

“... There’s no need to be so dedicated, you know?”

“I can already see the headlines for the next news: Famous Crafter Wargon takes on a massive boss monster Solo! Crafting materials are his reason for such a dangerous...”

“IS THAT TRUE TEACHER?” I heard as a very familiar girl’s voice came from one of the barrels. Looking back towards the source, I saw a certain Undine who was hidden within the wooden container until a few seconds ago. “Are you really going to do something so reckless?”

“Lily...” I said in a deadpan tone. “What are you doing here?”

The undine suddenly froze at my words before looking away shily for a moment, touching the tip of her fingers together as she fidgeted slightly as a kid who got caught doing something bad.

“Ermm… I heard that teacher was back… And ended up accidentally overhearing your talk about hunting the spider?” She said with a diminutive voice. “Then… I got worried… And wanted to stop or help you…?”

I stared blankly towards Lily, then towards the mummy. A creeping feeling of impending doom as I noticed that I somehow ended up being followed by the two people who I’m really weak against.

As I felt all my energy be drained from my body, I could hear as San laughed his ass off on the driver’s seat and Crys said something about warning yuu and the others.

Somehow I feel this is going to be a reaaaally long hunt for me...

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(dead)Author's corner: hatetableshatetableshatetableshatetables...

Name:SolRace&Class:High Elf/Shade BrawlerSignature MovesExplosives/Boredom/Curiosity-drivenAttack:98Defense:98Magic:79M. Defense:42Speed:90Technique:53Sanity:30Explosions survived:630+An elder elf who somehow became half undead. Have the looks of a kid but is actually extremely old and powerful. An excellent alchemist despite spending most of her time sleeping. Loves sweets and things that she finds interesting. She was once Wallace’s lover."Whatever you do, do NOT tell her where I am! I thought I could never be a groom after that night… ” – Wallace

This one is an example. More below so it don’t get too long.

Spoiler :

Name:Goulder WhitemantleRace&Class:Human CrusaderSignature MovesHuge shield/Fool newbies/Judge skillsAttack:87Defense:100Magic:45M. Defense:100Speed:80Technique:80Sanity:87Newbies fooled:74Somehwat of a hero and extremely well known warrior. Founder of the silver gauntlent mercenary and knights guild, he is a charismatic old man who likes to dress in rags and spend his day drinking beer at the guild, but is more than a responsible man when the time calls for it.”He is a legend amongst both mercenaries and knights alike! It’s said that he brought the guild back together from the brink of destruction." – Arcus

“Ooh? That’s amazing! You sure know your stuff!” – Wargon

“…I told him yesterday.” – Elraira

“…” - Arcus

Name:Rusty BlackjointRace&Class:Clockwork WarriorSignature MovesSteam orchestra/Info gathering/polite speechAttack:30Defense:45Magic:10M. Defense:45Speed:70Technique:50Sanity:88Charisma:90A charismatic clockwork who works as the receptionist of a information booth. Although not exactly a fighter, he is very dedicated to his works, and those who end up meeting the clockwork can’t help but befriend him. Had a crush on Nova for a long time before Gon set the two together."Simbol. Good worker. Polite smile. Friendly attitude!" –Rusty Blackjoint

Name:NovaRace&Class:Construct Rune-mageSignature MovesSpeed reading/ Perfect memorization/ Jealously towards RustyAttack:20Defense:70Magic:80M. Defense:80Speed:50Technique:70Sanity:96Books read:521A female construct who works as a librarian in Eldor. Once she was trained as a rune-knight, but gave up her life of adventuring to the calm rooms of library where she spends most of her time reading. Developed a crush she thought to be one-sided towards Rusty Blackjoint until Wargon got the two together."Nova? You’d be surprised how good she was with a staff after learning how to write in runic! By far my best student!" – Certain demonic instructor