How a Trend is Born
How is a trend born?
It was a difficult question to answer right away. Even the veteran members of the Power Warrior Guild would scratch their heads and mutter, "Hmm, that's a tough one."
Still, if there were a few essential ingredients for a trend, they would be: the trendsetters who start it, the followers who chase after it, and finally, the sheer fun of the trend itself.
And near this coastline, all of those elements were perfectly aligned.
- "Hey, you want to go do that?"
- "Yeah, let's go."
At first, players whispered among themselves, forming one or two parties to do it in secret...
- "Have you... by any chance, tried banditry?"
- "Heasp! You too?!"
But gradually, they grew bolder...
- "Nice to meet you. Would you like to go raiding with us?"
- "Why not? I'm down!"
Now, they were doing it completely out in the open!
Once the trend caught fire, the players of Bektel City gathered in groups of three to five, boldly heading out to plunder the surrounding areas.
"I heard the Guild Alliance is keeping their eyes peeled to catch us, though?"
"Pfft. There are so many of us, how are they going to catch everyone?"
Doing it alone is scary, but doing it together is a breeze! Because so many people were participating, barely anyone felt any fear.
Even if a guild issued a kill-on-sight order, they could only target a few individuals. How could they possibly blacklist this entire crowd?
Besides, the Guild Alliance was currently busy holding coronation ceremonies and cleaning up the areas near the capital, leaving them with absolutely no room to worry about this northern coastline.
The long civil war had left the kingdom utterly devastated.
To make matters worse, Kim Tae-san's guild had turned the southern region into a Plague Wasteland, while Sadiq's Avatar had appeared on the western border of the Erangs Kingdom and completely laid waste to it.
It was a total disaster, and they had no idea where to even begin fixing it!
Honestly, it was only because the Guild Alliance was so massive and possessed astronomical funds that they were still holding on. Any other guild would have abandoned the kingdom by now.
That was how poisoned of a chalice the Auston Kingdom currently was.
Excluding their military might, all of the territory's other stats were practically at rock bottom!
With public security in shambles, all sorts of NPCs—starting with the rebels loyal to the old royal family—rose up to fight back.
In a situation like this, even the mighty Guild Alliance had no choice but to solve their problems one by one.
- "For now, focus on clearing the area around the capital. Concentrate on the quests near the capital to restore our stats, and then we'll clean up the territories. What? Elves have arrived in the north? Send some rankers to deal with them. That should be more than enough."
Of course, thanks to that, the players happily scattered and went on a plundering spree.
A post like this even appeared on the community board:
Even if we raise our Infamy just a little bit, soldiers and mercenaries come chasing after us. And don't get me started on other players trying to hunt us down just to farm contribution points and bounties. It's really not easy making a living as a bandit these days.
But in times like this, we need to help each other out and share information! Everyone, let's stay strong during this recession.
Right now, the place I want to recommend is the Auston Kingdom.
Why Auston, you ask? Isn't the punishment there way harsher than in other kingdoms?
My friends, that is exactly the loophole. You can't let yourselves be fooled by that.
The Guild Alliance threatened to issue kill-on-sight orders if we get caught plundering, but how feasible is that really? They are incredibly busy these days. Plus, because public security in Auston is so low, it's actually way easier to raid here than anywhere else. Don't let the punishments scare you, guys. It doesn't matter as long as you don't get caught!
Right now, while everyone else is hesitating, is our golden opportunity. You know that once there are too many competitors, there's less food to go around, right? Hurry up, make a killing, and run!
It was an advertisement declaring the Auston Kingdom as the current hot spot!
On top of that, wild rumors began to circulate.
- "I heard they're transporting a sword crafted for the King of Auston right now. Wouldn't it be insane if we stole that?"
- "Oh my god. Did I just say that out loud? I should've kept it to myself..."
- "A hidden treasure of the Auston Kingdom is being moved!"
These rumors spurred everyone into action—the players already engaged in banditry, those who were hesitating, and even bandit players from other regions.
"Are you still working?"
"Yes! Shouldn't we build more siege weapons to defeat the Orcs?"
Your reputation within Gellendel's Elven Knights has increased significantly.
If your lie is discovered, your reputation within the Knights will plummet drastically. Other complications may also arise.
Of course, Tae-hyun wasn't actually building siege weapons.
He had built a single siege weapon for show, and was now borrowing the Elves' materials to craft whatever he actually wanted!
With Gellendel's permission, you may now access the Elven Expedition's warehouse.
If your lie is discovered...
Tae-hyun was unleashing his Blacksmithing skills in earnest for the first time in a while.
He was currently crafting three main items.
One was the Bomb Sword. The other was the Bomb Shield.
Both were secret weapons to be handed over to the members of the Power Warrior Guild.
I wonder if these will actually work well.
To be honest, even Tae-hyun, who was making them, didn't have a clear grasp of how effective these two pieces of equipment would be.
But since the materials belonged to someone else anyway, and crafting them would level up his Blacksmithing skill, he went ahead with it!
Using a bomb on a sword should deal quite a bit of damage... but rankers have all sorts of annoying tricks up their sleeves.
It was a bit rich coming from Tae-hyun, who had hoarded all kinds of divine Authority skills, but rankers were definitely rankers for a reason. It wouldn't be surprising if they had one or two secret trump cards.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Tae-hyun swung his hammer rapidly.
The Bomb Sword and Bomb Shield required a lot of materials despite their bizarre stats.
He had to make as many as possible while he was still here!
You have used the Elven Expedition's warehouse without authorization. If discovered...
......
......
Nice. I've hit 100 of them. Now, should I try using Archisus's Gift?
The final item he was crafting was equipment made using Archisus's Gift!
Allows the crafting of equipment imbued with Archisus's wicked intent.
The hidden stats of this gift can only be seen by the Avatar of Archisus.
*The properties of the final product are completely random.
I want to make this and give it to the Guild Alliance...
Tae-hyun pondered.
Using Archisus's Gift to craft the items was fine.
But how could he get them to equip it?
If a regular guild member wore it, it wouldn't be cost-effective. At the very least, an executive or a ranker had to equip it.
The problem was, how could he make a ranker wear it?
Rankers usually had flashy, high-end equipment sets and rarely changed them without a good reason.
If I just craft them and scatter them around, some random guild member will probably pick them up and equip them immediately...
He needed a foolproof method of delivery.
Alcott shrank back. He had simply wanted to brag about receiving his Baron title.
Normally, he wouldn't have bragged to anyone else.
They probably all know anyway, so why brag! Staying quiet makes you look much more dignified!
But his conversational partner was Tae-hyun!
Alcott just... wanted to show off. To show that he was someone of this caliber!
Alcott's voice carried a very subtle hint of arrogance!
Tae-hyun cleanly brushed it off and moved on.
In terms of titles, Tae-hyun, who literally held the position of a King, had no reason to envy Alcott.
You're a Baron? I'm a King!
Alcott realized this as well and slumped.
Alcott was convinced remarkably fast!
It's not like I'm the one getting screwed over anyway!
Come to think of it, seeing his competitors get ruined might actually be better for him.
After all, Alcott's reputation within the Guild Alliance had been soaring lately.
He was the sole holder of a noble title in the Erangs Kingdom!
Alcott asked in a worried tone.
Whatever happened, he couldn't afford to take any damage himself!
The plan Tae-hyun came up with was as follows:
A player Alcott knew cleared a dungeon, and lo and behold! Among the reward items, there was something extraordinary!
I must offer this to Lord Alcott!
- "...And once it flows to you like that, you kindly report it to the Guild Alliance."
Alcott listened, thought about it, and nodded.
This seemed perfectly fine.
Thanks to Cain and Tae-hyun using the aliases Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping, they had even received guild invitations from the Guild Alliance before!
Those names would still be useful.
I didn't think I'd end up using it like this, though.
The executive was shocked.
Archisus was the god of the church associated with that Kim Tae-hyun!
If it was equipment related to Archisus, it was absolutely not something they could just ignore.
Just hearing those words made the officer's heart race!
The executive gulped. They could tell instantly that this was a massive jackpot.
Alcott was terrified.
How on earth is a name we just made up on the spot so well-known?
The executive's voice had turned incredibly gentle.
Normally, they would have reacted with, "Who does he think he is, rejecting our guild's offer?" But because his image was so good, they had the exact opposite reaction.
Yes! For someone of your caliber, we can understand!
I feel like Kim Tae-hyun would interpret that in a completely different way, though...
Did they mean the doors to the Guild Alliance were open, so he should come and rob them?
Alcott thought to himself.
The executive was deeply moved.
Truly, positions of power change people. That selfish Alcott had received a noble title, and now he was a completely changed man!