Chapter 72
Chapter 72
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 72
Chapter Title: World Craft
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"World Craft."
Antonio Choi's straightforward answer made Seong Yu-jin tilt her head. She had never heard of the game before.
But the reactions of the others, especially Choi Yu-ra and Park Han-yeong, were different.
Choi Yu-ra asked hurriedly, her face a mask of disbelief.
"World Craft? You don't mean that game where you grind to build things?"
"What do you mean, grind? It's about carefully stacking things one by one."
When Antonio Choi grumbled in dissatisfaction, Choi Yu-ra let out a hollow laugh instead of apologizing.
"Says the guy who named himself NOGADA?"
"What? Yu-ra, you can see nicknames too?"
This time, it was Antonio Choi's turn to look utterly surprised.
Kang-seok flinched at the word 'too,' but given the circumstances, it seemed unlikely that Antonio Choi had the ability to see nicknames. He had probably met another Player with an ability similar to Choi Yu-ra's.
Kang-seok let out a sigh of relief without realizing it, and Seong Yu-jin, who was beside him, gently tugged on his arm.
"Hey, can you explain what kind of game it is?"
World Craft.
It was a game Kang-seok had never played either. But he had a rough idea of what it was. In fact, it was more surprising that Seong Yu-jin didn't know about World Craft.
'Did she really only play Exa Online?'
Kang-seok tilted his head for a moment, but it was an unimportant question. He soon met Seong Yu-jin's gaze and began to explain.
"World Craft is a type of sandbox simulation game. There's no real story or quests; it's a game where you freely roam the game world, alter the terrain, and build various structures."
It was a straightforward explanation, but Seong Yu-jin's eyes were still full of question marks. Choi Yu-ra, who had been focused on their conversation, chimed in.
"Kang-seok just called it a sandbox game, right? Just think of an actual sandbox. It's like a game where you play with sand, building things like mud pies or sandcastles, you know?"
"Oh... so it's a building game? Like Lego?"
Seong Yu-jin pictured the Lego blocks she used to play with her older brother when they were young. The ability to create endless works depending on how you combined them was a point of similarity with 'World Craft.'
Park Han-yeong added.
"You can also gather resources and use them to craft not just structures but various tools as well. You can even alter the terrain itself... You could call it the ultimate production game."
Judging by everyone's reactions, it seemed to be a really famous game. Even Kim Kang-san, who had said the only game he knew was Blood, was nodding as if he'd heard of it.
Feeling inexplicably anxious, Seong Yu-jin asked Yang Jun-gyu.
"Jun-gyu, have you played it too?"
"Yes, I played it with my classmates back when it was popular. I quit after about half a month, though."
The games played by the Players summoned to this world through the Great Summoning all had one thing in common: they were 'online games.'
Park Han-yeong explained further.
"Unni, it's a much bigger game than you're probably imagining. If you put your mind to it, you can single-handedly build huge palaces like the Taj Mahal or Versailles, and you can even recreate geographical features like Niagara Falls or the Grand Canyon. Just like the title says, it's a game about crafting a world."
That was precisely why World Craft had become so famous. Even now, the internet was filled with pictures of magnificent terrain and structures created by World Craft players.
Her shoulders slumping slightly, Seong Yu-jin counted on her fingers.
"You can craft items, build structures, gather resources, and change the terrain?"
"I didn't call it a grinding game for nothing, you know?"
Choi Yu-ra chuckled and glanced up at Antonio Choi.
Seong Yu-jin also let out a disbelieving laugh.
"Then you're truly the ultimate production class, aren't you?"
The production classes in combat-based games were limited to crafting combat-related items.
But from the sounds of it, Antonio Choi wasn't limited to just that; he could even create everyday items.
Hadn't he even enhanced a 'carriage'?
As Seong Yu-jin said, the term 'ultimate production class' was no exaggeration.
'No, it's more than just a production class.'
Kang-seok naturally thought of Andras's lair in the Sauerland Mountains.
He had thought it would be great just to have a Player with the ability to dig, but Antonio Choi was on another level.
Complete fortification.
A guild hideout that could practically be called a dungeon.
It wasn't an entirely impossible story.
Moreover, Antonio Choi's abilities weren't limited to just a guild hideout.
He could change the terrain.
The endless possibilities that fact held.
Antonio Choi touched the brim of his hat, looking a little embarrassed.
"Well, I appreciate the high praise, but calling me the ultimate production class is a bit of a stretch. World Craft wasn't a 'fighting game.' It's true that as long as I have the materials and a basic understanding of the structure, I can make anything... but when it comes to combat-related items, someone who played a production class like a blacksmith in an MMORPG would probably be better."
Antonio Choi's words were not mere modesty.
But it didn't matter. With the abilities he already possessed, Antonio Choi could easily be described as 'amazing.'
"Hey, can you enhance my weapons too?"
Choi Yu-ra asked, holding out the small crossbow on her wrist. Antonio Choi took her wrist, looked the crossbow over, and nodded.
"Like I said before, as long as I have the base item and a rough understanding of its structure, I can enhance it to +1 without any special materials. It just consumes some of my health and mental energy. After that, it requires proper materials, and there's a chance of failure, but it's still possible."
Antonio Choi didn't just stop at words. He clapped his hands once more and grabbed the small crossbow, wrist and all.
Then, a white light appeared along with new, luminous text.
[Small Crossbow enhancement successful.]
Choi Yu-ra quickly held out her wrist to Seong Yu-jin.
"Yu-jin, appraise it."
Without a word, Seong Yu-jin quickly grabbed Choi Yu-ra's wrist. She stared into the air, her eyes darting around, before speaking.
"Its attack power has been enhanced by 1.05 times. Its durability has also increased, though only slightly."
Seong Yu-jin's eyes now shone with excitement.
Yang Jun-gyu fidgeted, itching to hold out the dwarven longsword at his waist.
Antonio Choi spoke again.
"As I said, this uses up a lot of health and mental energy. It would be best to stop here for today. And... I'm not confident with things like swords, so it's better not to ask me. Even a +1 enhancement can sometimes fail. And you know it's an unwritten rule in this business that items break on failure, right?"
Yang Jun-gyu, who had been on the verge of unbuckling his scabbard, quickly took his hand off his waist.
Kang-seok found the current mood incredibly pleasant.
Kim Kang-san and Park Han-yeong also had bright expressions, as if each was imagining the possibilities.
But just then, Choi Yu-ra suddenly slapped her thigh as if she'd just remembered something and asked.
"Wait a minute, then how did you pass the tutorial?"
World Craft was not a fighting game.
It wasn't completely devoid of combat—there was a system for crafting basic weapons like swords and axes to fight monsters—but the combat was so 'simple' that it couldn't even be compared to other online games.
Antonio Choi could certainly be called the ultimate production user, but in terms of combat power, he was likely below average for a Player.
Was the tutorial Antonio Choi cleared incredibly easy? Or was there a very strong Player among the people he was with?
Antonio Choi gazed into the distant sky for a moment, as if recalling the past.
"Hmm, in my case, I started deep underground. I think it might have been a dungeon."
At the word 'dungeon,' Kang-seok, Seong Yu-jin, Kim Kang-san, and Park Han-yeong all flinched almost simultaneously. The tutorial the four of them had passed was so difficult that Iris had repeatedly emphasized it.
There was no reason for every dungeon to be as difficult as the Labyrinthos, but the very nature of a dungeon meant it surely wouldn't have been easy.
Antonio Choi continued.
"As soon as I woke up, I heard screaming from above. There were hideous monsters roaming around too. I managed to craft a pickaxe or something to defend myself, but I didn't dare go up."
"So how did you pass? Did you meet another strong Player?"
It was less a question and more a confirmation. For Antonio Choi, with his weak combat abilities, the only way to pass the tutorial would have been to rely on another strong Player.
However, Antonio Choi gave an answer that not only Choi Yu-ra but also Kang-seok and Seong Yu-jin had never expected.
"Nah, I just broke through another way."
"What?"
"I went to the wall at the very end of the floor I was on and started digging. Then I just kept digging my way up. Luckily, there weren't any monsters sleeping in the ground."
Everyone stared at Antonio Choi with blank faces.
He didn't ascend the dungeon the normal way. He just broke through a different path and escaped the dungeon that way.
"A-As expected of World Craft."
Park Han-yeong muttered, her expression befitting someone breaking into a cold sweat. Kim Kang-san also shook his head.
"I feel like my common sense is crumbling."
System Yggdrasil directly and indirectly demanded that Players 'become stronger.'
The tutorials were also often based on combat, and clearing them by demonstrating one's combat prowess was supposed to be the standard method.
But there was no rule saying it had to be that way. Antonio Choi had simply made excellent use of his own abilities.
And this was one of the possibilities Kang-seok had envisioned from the fact that 'the terrain could be changed.'
"Let's say you survived on the initially given time until you got to the top... what did you do after that? You would have had to fight to increase your remaining survival time, right?"
Antonio Choi answered Choi Yu-ra's question straightforwardly once again.
"So I made ranged weapons like crossbows and hunted weak monsters. Later, I shifted my focus to quests. Given my abilities, I naturally ended up concentrating on quests. I earned Kron and local currency by taking quests to build things for the nobles and merchants of this world... Oh, come to think of it, I even got a scouting offer."
"A scouting offer? From the nobles or merchants of this world?"
"No, from a Player. Was his name Kalid? He asked me to join his guild. I don't know what trick he was using, but he tried to tempt me by saying he'd share Kron with me if I just joined his guild and was active."
The Seven Sword Knights. The first guild created by Players.
For Antonio Choi, a production class with lacking combat abilities, it must have been a very attractive offer.
"But you didn't join?"
"I was thinking about it, but I really didn't like that they wanted to assign a monitor to me. Besides, something much more urgent and important came up."
Antonio Choi grinned and placed a hand on Choi Yu-ra's shoulder.
"It could have been someone with the same name, but it might not have been, you know? So I dropped everything and came to the Britain Kingdom to find you. Luckily, I met Kang-san hyung and Han-yeong and found you this quickly."
The World Quest discoverer announcement.
He had worried it might be a disadvantage, but it had turned out to be a huge benefit.
At Antonio Choi's serious tone, Choi Yu-ra shyly pulled back a little.
Antonio Choi chuckled heartily, as if pleased even by her retreating gesture.
"If I'm going to join a guild, it should be the one my cousin is in, right? If you don't have one yet, we can just make one."
Despite his perpetually lazy-looking face, Antonio Choi was quite straightforward. His relationship with Choi Yu-ra also seemed to be quite special.
At the mention of making a guild, Choi Yu-ra glanced at Kang-seok's face and smiled brightly. She patted Antonio Choi's back and said.
"Anyway, let's get going. We can't just stand on the road forever, can we?"
The broken carriage was now repaired and even sturdier, so there was no reason to delay.
Yang Jun-gyu and Park Han-yeong reconnected the horses to the carriage, and the group climbed aboard one by one.
Kang-seok naturally stepped back, waiting for everyone to get on the carriage. And when finally even Seong Yu-jin was on board, he took one last look back.
Visbaden, the capital of the Britain Kingdom.
The conversations with Vivian, the Witch of the Lake.
What was the reason for the Great Summoning?
If it was to stop the 72 Demonic Beasts, why were Players summoned instead of strengthening the beings of this world?
He didn't know yet. But an answer surely existed.
Kang-seok turned around. He climbed onto the carriage for a new beginning.
After leaving the capital, the group hurried back to Aachen. However, upon reaching the vicinity of Aachen, Yang Jun-gyu steered the carriage in a different direction.
The Sauerland Mountains.
The location of Andras's lair.