The Call of the Desert
“…….”
Everyone had a lot they wanted to say, but they held their tongues. Even Cain read the room and walked on eggshells.
‘If I shoot my mouth off here, he’ll torment me for days.’
Tae-hyun was a man who held grudges with razor-sharp precision!
“S-Should we watch the video? I'll play it. Is it okay if I play it?” Cain said, desperately trying to change the subject. Besides, he was genuinely curious about the video. Some things just had to be seen with one's own eyes to be truly appreciated.
A single figure was walking down a dark, ruined passageway. Naturally, that person was Lee Se-yeon.
Passing through the corridor, a dazzling chamber covered in gold revealed itself. If it had been Tae-hyun, he would have immediately started calculating its market value, but Lee Se-yeon didn't spare it a single glance as she walked straight to the center.
“Wow. Lee Se-yeon is amazing.”
“Indeed...”
“Yeah. She's totally conscious of the camera.”
“Ah, no. That's not what I meant...”
Tae-hyun genuinely believed Lee Se-yeon was highly conscious of the camera. His takeaway was completely different from everyone else's!
Lee Se-yeon opened a stone sarcophagus and placed a staff upon it. Inside the sarcophagus were empty slots meant for a staff and a crown.
Rumble!
A brilliant flash of light erupted within the ruins, spreading rapidly along the passageways.
The Crown has been returned to its original owner.
Uipoatl, the Emperor of the fallen Asbian Empire, awakens.
The Asbian Empire, which was destroyed by rampaging ancient dragons, preserved its Emperor and his subjects as undead for the distant future. Now that the true Emperor of the Asbian Empire has awakened, order shall once again be restored to this lawless land!
"Adventurer. You have awakened me. I shall never forget your great service."
"I bestow upon you the empire's..."
What Uipoatl gave as a reward was edited out by Lee Se-yeon, but one could guess even without hearing it. Awakening a sealed emperor must have yielded an astronomical reward! Already, rumors were swirling on the community boards that Lee Se-yeon had become a lord of the Asbian Empire or had received the empire's army.
“The Asbian Empire doesn't look like much. It's just a complete desert. Sure, it has all kinds of rich resources and is crawling with undiscovered dungeons, but...”
“Exactly. The Asbian Empire has nothing to see. It looks worse than the Erangs Kingdom. The Emperor and nobles are all skeletons... and they probably can't even use magic that well.”
They desperately tried to find flaws in the Asbian Empire!
Of course, their true feelings were identical.
‘I want to go there so bad!’
In Pan-On, new areas were discovered practically every time one woke up. However, those places usually fell into one of two categories: either they weren't worth visiting for high-level players, or they were too absurdly difficult even for rankers.
The former made up the vast majority, while the latter appeared only occasionally.
Frozeland, the freezing northern territory where Galakpad had gone to find his divine authority, belonged to the latter. It was so notoriously difficult that even rankers had retreated after a few failed attempts!
Pan-On still had many unexplored lands.
But the Asbian Empire was neither of those. It was an empire that had suddenly materialized in the middle of a vast desert!
Buildings and NPCs had appeared out of nowhere, and quests and dungeons were piled high. First come, first served.
The journey there was a bit long, but it didn't even qualify as a hardship. Compared to other unexplored lands, the Asbian Empire was practically an amusement park!
“You guys look like you really want to go.”
“A-Ah, no. I didn't really care.”
“I didn't think much of it either.”
“I... I'm too busy looking for the Salavian Order to even think about going!”
The three of them protested vehemently, but Tae-hyun didn't pay them any mind. Instead, he began to lament.
“Sigh... Lee Se-yeon is out there clearing massive quests like that, while I can't even unify the Central Continent...”
“…….”
‘Isn’t that comparison a bit skewed?’
‘No matter how you look at it, the latter is way harder!’
The three of them thought this, but kept their mouths shut.
“I feel so pathetic. I need to work even harder from now on.”
“Aren't... aren't you already working hard enough?”
Cain finally couldn't hold back and spoke up. He was genuinely terrified of what would happen if Tae-hyun started working even harder.
‘If he works any harder than this, what's going to happen to him? Is he going to live inside his capsule?’
“What? You can say that after seeing Lee Se-yeon clear that quest? Cain, this is exactly why you...”
‘Argh...’
A single slip of the tongue, and the nagging bombardment began! Cain hung his head low.
Upon logging in, Tae-hyun decided to wrap up his current task first. Just because Lee Se-yeon had cleared a massive quest didn't mean he could abandon what he was doing. Lee Se-yeon was Lee Se-yeon, and Tae-hyun was Tae-hyun!
You have successfully crafted the vehicle!
Your Engineering skill has increased significantly.
Your Blacksmithing Skill has increased...
It was a massive, beautiful four-wheeled automobile! It was a masterpiece of Engineering, packed with top-tier materials that the Power Warrior Guild members had painstakingly gathered piece by piece.
“This is...!”
“Sniff! Look at those wheels! I gathered the materials for those wheels myself!”
“Do you have any idea who gathered the materials for that booster on the back?!”
The Power Warrior Guild members gathered around, revving their imaginary engines, tears welling in their eyes. It was like parents watching their grown child leave the nest!
“Guys, move aside. I need to record this so we can advertise it.”
This was the grand plan of the Power Warrior Guild. Their intention was to sell Engineering random boxes through false... no, exaggerated advertising!
They weren't planning on making just pocket change. Power Warrior intended to turn this into one of the guild's main sources of income.
However, the guild members cried out, clinging to the vehicle.
“Guild Master! Please don't put this in a box!”
“If I don't put it in, what else am I supposed to do?”
“We'll ride it! We'll polish and shine it every single day!”
“Wake up, guys! Even if I sold all of you, we couldn't afford this!”
“…….”
“...Waaaah!”
Lee Da-bi delivered a heavy, crushing blow of reality! Tae-hyun, flustered, tried to intervene.
“You didn't have to go that far.”
“Ah, no... Tae-hyun worked so hard to make this for us, they shouldn't be acting like that.”
Lee Da-bi was truly fit to be a guild leader. You couldn't run a guild if you let yourself be swayed by tears like that!
Coldly pushing away the clinging guild members, Lee Da-bi finished preparing the advertisement.
The concept of the ad was: “Find your luck among tens of thousands of boxes!”
Watching Lee Da-bi prepare the advertisement, Tae-hyun felt a slight sense of skepticism. The probability was less than 0.001%. Would people really buy so many boxes just for a rare mount?
Of course, Tae-hyun himself was someone who, since the days of Pan-On 1, had challenged and succeeded in crafting items with even lower probabilities...
‘But that and this are two completely different stories.’
Since all preparations were complete, there was nothing left to do but hope for the best.
“By the way, Tae-hyun, aren't you going to the Asbian Empire?”
Flinch.
Tae-hyun flinched. Lee Da-bi didn't notice.
“I-I have a lot of things to do here. I have to craft this and that...”
“But aren't you finished with all of that now?”
“I also need to prepare for dungeon raids...”
“...Huh? Is there more?”
“...And I have to clear my authority quest.”
“Ah. Then it can't be helped. Where is your next destination?” Lee Da-bi asked innocently. No matter what Tae-hyun did, she wanted to help him.
“I need to look for it now...”
“Your Holiness! I have found it! I have found it!”
Pelmas came running from a distance, panting heavily.
“Found what?”
“Who am I, Your Holiness? Am I not Pelmas, the loyal servant of our Order?”
“...Sure, let's go with that. And?”
“I have adventurers deployed all over the place. One of them just brought back a report.”
The Mysteries of the Eastern Desert
Countless mysteries lie dormant in the eastern desert of the Prica Continent. The secrets that were sealed away after the fall of the Asbian Empire have begun to open their doors following the empire's resurrection.
Head to the Asbian Empire and search the ruins. Somewhere within, a divine authority lies dormant.
📍 Location: Asbian Empire Ruins
🎁 Reward: ?, ???, ????
“Ever since the fall of the Asbian Empire, the surrounding area was so desolate and dangerous that it was practically impossible to set foot there. But it seems some incredible adventurer awakened the Emperor and resurrected the empire! Your Holiness, isn't this wonderful news?”
Pelmas looked at Tae-hyun with an expression that practically screamed, ‘Didn't I do a good job?’
Tae-hyun looked up at the sky and let out a deep sigh.
“Fine. Let's go. Let's go.”
“Yeah!”
Cain and Jeong Su-hyeok cheered. In truth, they had been dying to go as well. A newly discovered map was something that always got a gamer's heart racing!
‘I just hope I don’t run into Lee Se-yeon there.’
The empire was vast, so the chances of crossing paths with her were slim, but Tae-hyun knew how these things went. It was always in moments like this that you'd run into people you wanted to avoid!
Just because a new empire had been resurrected didn't mean everyone was interested. There were players who silently focused solely on their own business.
Chairman Yoo was one of them.
“Mmm...”
“Is something troubling you, Chairman?”
Chairman Yoo had a concern lately. It was none other than the new generation of fishing players!
“Why do you think fishing broadcasts have such low viewership? Blacksmiths and chefs get way more viewers, even if they aren't rankers.”
“Perhaps... it is because fishing is a bit less popular.”
“Less popular? Hmph... youngsters these days...” Chairman Yoo grumbled.
The Arantis Kingdom was running smoothly. It enjoyed overwhelming support from its primary player base, the fishermen. It was a true paradise for anglers!
The treatment was so excellent that if anyone so much as mentioned Chairman Yoo's name, the fishermen were ready to lay down their lives.
The problem, however, was the player demographic. Only those who were absolutely obsessed with fishing came to the Arantis Kingdom. And that demographic was highly limited.
It felt as though only older gentlemen of a certain age were hanging around!
Chairman Yoo wanted to share the joy of fishing with people of all ages and genders. To do that, he needed to promote it more. After all, the fishing skill was quite minor compared to other skills!
“Wait. Why does this fellow have so many viewers? He's a fisherman too, isn't he?”
While browsing through the list of personal broadcasts, Chairman Yoo discovered something strange. One particular fishing player was exceptionally popular.
Checking the broadcast content, it didn't seem like he was doing anything other than fishing.
Secretary Jeong quickly looked into it and said, “Ah... it seems that player is popular for reasons other than just fishing.”
“What do you mean? What else is there besides fishing?”
Chairman Yoo was puzzled. Although he had grown quite accustomed to Pan-On, he was still unfamiliar with the vast and deep world of personal streaming.
“It seems he broadcasts in a rather sensational manner. Look here. He doesn't just upload gameplay footage; after he finishes fishing, he shows his face directly to promote his channel.”
“Hmm. He is quite decent-looking.”
“That is not all. Look at this.”
“...'If you leave a like, you will be entered into a raffle to win Epic-grade equipment'? What is this?”
“It is exactly as it says. He is enticing them to leave positive ratings, Chairman.”
“Is one allowed to do such a thing?”
“Many streamers do this.”
“Kim Tae-hyun doesn't do anything like this, does he?”
“...Well, isn't that because he is already incredibly famous?”
Chairman Yoo was no fool. He immediately understood what his secretary meant.
No matter what anyone said, Tae-hyun was a superstar whose fame had carried over since the days of Pan-On 1. One shouldn't compare others to someone that famous. Naturally, Tae-hyun would do well even without such tactics.
“I see. So that's how it works...”
Chairman Yoo began to understand how personal broadcasts operated. Though it looked peaceful on the surface, behind the scenes, it was a fierce battlefield where countless players did whatever it took to climb to the top!
In such a place, uploading a simple, plain fishing video was bound to be ignored. To win, one had to adapt.
“Yes. It is a highly vulgar practice.”
“Hmm?”
“...W-Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Well... I was thinking of trying it myself.”
“Ch-Chairman!”
Secretary Jeong's face turned deathly pale.