The Unintended Meta
To be honest, up until now, the Valley of Despair and Sorrow had enjoyed a strange sort of popularity among crafting players, but it hadn't really caught on with combat players. There simply wasn't much of an appeal for them. Unless they occasionally needed to seek out the lunatics—sorry, the mechanical engineering blacksmiths—or the blacksmiths who sold gear enhancements to ask for skills, they rarely had any reason to visit!
However, the free meals the territory had started distributing were enough to make even combat players reconsider. The efficiency was just too good.
As a result, visiting the Valley of Despair and Sorrow became an almost mandatory step for combat players hunting in the Atali Kingdom.
The routine was set: make the Valley your base → join the Church → gorge yourself on as much food as possible before heading out to stack the buffs like crazy → hunt until the very last second of the buff duration!
It was a butterfly effect triggered by the Archisus Church's cuisine. An outcome even Galakpad hadn't anticipated!
"Why are there suddenly so many adventurers with combat classes here?"
"I know, right?"
"Hmm. This must surely be the grand will of Lord Archisus! Oh! Praise Lord Archisus!"
"...You fanatical bas—"
"What did you say?"
"Nothing!"
Pelmas had been grumbling to himself, but upon nearly being caught, he hastily changed the subject.
As the number of combat players joining the Church grew, another completely unexpected consequence arose.
And that was related to the Sadiq Church.
"I've accumulated some contribution points. What should I do with them?"
"Get a blessing and craft something."
"No, eating the food is already more than enough... and I can just take an Archisus priest with me when I go hunting anyway. I want to spend them on something else."
"I'm telling you, get a blessing and craft something."
"I'm a combat class, you idiots!"
"It'll still be better to get a blessing and craft something."
"...!!"
Only then did the player realize that the friends around him were acting a bit strange. They had the glazed-over eyes of degenerate gambling addicts!
"Come on, join us in crafting, buddy!"
"If you're not going to use your points, lend them to me! There's something I want to make!"
"Get lost! Are you guys insane?!"
Shoving his friends aside, the combat player searched for other rewards.
Right. What about skills?
Church skills! This was a reward that often appeared in other religious factions as well.
What kind of skills does the Archisus Church have? I hope there's at least one that Kim Tae-hyun uses...
Recalling Kim Tae-hyun's flashy combat videos, the player opened the list of obtainable reward skills.
His heart pounded in anticipation.
...I, I don't think Kim Tae-hyun would use stuff like this...
Skills that shattered his illusions! There were blessing-type skills, but they weren't really useful for a combat class like him.
But then, he noticed something bizarre.
"?????"
At first, he thought it was a bug. But no matter how many times he looked, the skill list remained the same.
Why are Sadiq skills listed as rewards for the Archisus Church?!
No matter how shocked he was, there was no one to answer him.
Ultimately, driven by curiosity, the player selected a Sadiq skill as his reward.
You have received the skill as a reward. Contribution points have been deducted.
Your reputation within the Archisus Church has increased.
The Sadiq Church is furious with you for stealing their church's skill. You will receive a penalty if you encounter NPCs of the Sadiq Church.
"..."
The message window made him wonder what on earth had transpired to allow the theft of Sadiq Church skills!
But that wasn't the important part.
The crucial detail was that you could actually learn Sadiq Church skills! That was what mattered.
Wait. Isn't this incredibly good?
For churches like Sadiq, which were treated as evil gods across the continent, their skills were exceptionally powerful, but believing in them came with heavy penalties.
Your Infamy would skyrocket, you'd be treated with contempt when entering cities, or in severe cases, a bounty would be placed on your head!
Only players who were fully prepared for those consequences could worship an evil god.
However, the Archisus Church wasn't classified as an evil god church.
In other words, players could learn Sadiq Church skills without suffering any of the associated penalties!
"...!"
Realizing this, the player shuddered with excitement.
"This is no time to be taking those pathetic Archisus skills! It's Sadiq! We need to learn Sadiq skills!"
"What did you just say?"
"Gasp! I'm sorry."
Having spoken his thoughts aloud, the player quickly bowed his head under the sharp glares of the nearby Archisus priests.
"Seriously, these crazy bastards. They wouldn't believe in Sadiq when we told them to, so why the hell are they all worshiping him now?!"
Burford grumbled, utterly baffled by the sudden Sadiq Church boom.
Right now, he was completing a quest assigned to him by Galakpad.
Since he had converted from the Sadiq Church to the Archisus Church, he had no choice but to do these quests, even if the rewards were meager!
Though it was disappointing, he didn't have any major complaints. Honestly, he considered himself lucky just to have escaped the ruined Sadiq Church.
Yet, a part of him still felt a lingering regret.
If only he had done a bit better back in the Sadiq Church.
If only more players had joined, and if they had fought a bit better...
"...Ugh! Seriously, those guys!"
Burford grumbled, his blood boiling.
The scene unfolding right before his eyes was twisting his stomach.
Right there in the front courtyard of the Archisus Temple, players who had learned Sadiq skills were practicing them!
The Sadiq paladins and priests were actually instructing them with quite a bit of care, and the players were marveling, shouting, "Whoa! I can't believe a skill like this existed! The Sadiq Church is amazing!"
If they were going to love it this much, it would have been better for everyone if they had just joined the Sadiq Church in the first place!!
"Why is that guy glaring at us like that?"
"Just ignore him. He's a loser. Now, next, I will teach you the Sadiq's Fiery Protection."
The Sadiq paladins and priests completely ignored Burford. He used to be their superior, but ever since they entered the Archisus Church, they treated him like a street peddler!
"Burford. Have you finished the quest I assigned?"
"A-Ah, no. Lord Galakpad. I was just about to go do it..."
"You scoundrel! Yet here you are, idling away! It seems you haven't been disciplined enough!"
"No, that's not it! I'm going right now..."
Once Galakpad started nagging, it was guaranteed that Burford wouldn't be able to move for at least an hour. He had to waste his precious time listening to an in-game NPC drone on.
"You Sadiq lot always have so many excuses! This is the Archisus Church. Don't you realize that being as lazy as you are will never allow you to become as great as Lord Archisus?!"
"..."
In the end, Burford was only released after enduring a whole hour of Galakpad's sermon.
You have received a harsh lecture from Galakpad. Your reputation within the Church has increased.
Your Holy stat has increased.
I don't need this crap...!
Burford wept internally, grumbling to himself.
As a genuine Sadiq player who had learned Sadiq Church skills from the very beginning, he was suffering like this, while some random newbies who had never even heard of Sadiq were easily picking up the skills and thriving without any penalties. It made his stomach turn.
Tap, tap.
"Excuse me..."
"...?"
Burford turned his head. A couple of players he had never seen before were calling out to him.
"We heard you're a Sadiq Paladin. Is that true?"
"Well, I'm not exactly a Sadiq Paladin anymore, I'm Archisus... Anyway, close enough. Why do you ask?"
"We just received Sadiq skills as well, and we were wondering if you'd like to party up with us? Since you obviously know way more than we do, we wanted to learn from you."
"Wh-..."
When Burford suddenly began to tremble, the players who had approached him panicked. Had they offended him?
"Of course I will!!!!"
"..."
"Let's do it! Despite how I look, I'm the true successor of Sadiq! Out of all the players, I know Sadiq skills the best! You can't even compare me to those guys over there who just learned the basics today!"
"Ah, yes..."
Burford excitedly led the players out into the fields.
As a result, the Valley of Despair and Sorrow now boasted a fairly large number of combat players. It was a massive development!
The number of players using the territory as their base has increased. Reputation has increased.
The territory's influence has expanded.
Lords of other territories are taking notice of you.
You can now increase the territory's military forces.
Nobody would have ever guessed that all of this had started because of the food.
And that, of course, included Tae-hyun.
Unaware of the massive shift occurring in his territory, he was simply nursing a headache caused by Galakpad's antics.
"Ah, that bastard... I was planning on visiting the territory eventually anyway, but I guess I have to go right now."
"Are you going to cancel the free food?"
Tae-hyun pondered for a moment before shaking his head.
"No. It's too late for that."
"Pardon?"
"People get angry when you take away something you've been giving them for free. Since we've already started, canceling it now will only cause a backlash."
Once players became accustomed to receiving free food, taking it away would undoubtedly breed resentment. No matter how much he tried to explain the circumstances, it would fall on deaf ears.
Tae-hyun understood this psychological principle all too well.
"Since we've started, we have to keep going. If we want to stop it, we'll have to use another method..."
"What kind of method, for example?"
"If we swap out the ingredients for something absolutely terrible..."
"..."
"Actually, that sounds like even more of a hassle. Damn it. That idiot Galakpad had to go and do something completely unnecessary."
Since he had to lead the Church and manage its influence, he had no choice but to care about the players' perceptions. He might not be able to increase the benefits further, but he certainly couldn't reduce them!
Tae-hyun still hadn't realized that combat players were flocking to his territory in droves.
"I was thinking of clearing the pirate tribe quest first, but I guess I'll head back. I need to craft some items anyway, so I suppose the timing is good..."
Tae-hyun left a bitter taste in his mouth.
How was it that this territory of his hadn't given him a single day of peace since he acquired it?
When I read posts by other lords about running their territories, everything seems to go so smoothly. Why is mine like this?
No matter how much he thought about it, the name Valley of Despair and Sorrow seemed to be cursed. That had to be the only explanation.
The Archisus Church, where even perfectly sane people became a little unhinged the moment they entered!
As the two of them chatted, a scream echoed from far away.
"Aaaah! Aaaaaah! Aaaaaaaah!"
Tae-hyun let out a deep sigh.
"That's Cain, isn't it?"
"It seems Mr. Cain is doing Cain things again..."