Chapter 47
Chapter 47
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 47
Chapter Title: Crossroad (2)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
# 47
Two issues were dominating portal sites and SNS. Interestingly, both were related to The Lord.
[The Lord: User Reaches Level 99!]
[The Lord's Third City Finally Revealed?]
[A Game with High Job Freedom: What Will the Third Jobs Look Like?]
The first was the emergence of a user who had reached Level 99. The article stated that the person in question was reluctant to reveal their identity, so exact details couldn't be disclosed, but Young-min was certain. It was the 'Ragnarok' team. Just like in his previous life, they were the first to break through.
Now that they had hit Level 99, they would complete the Level 100 quest within a few days, and a few days after that, they would find a way to head to the Third City and advance.
'And claim the first-clear titles.'
Unfortunately, they were in a different region from Rokan. Rokan had been the first to enter Crossroad, but the first-clear titles in other regions would go to them.
If they had been in the same region, Rokan would have snatched those first-clear titles that should have been theirs and blocked them off, but regrettably, that would have to wait for later.
"I need to hurry a bit more."
Ragnarok was fast, but not overwhelmingly so yet. The top players were all growing at similar paces, and this article would make them push even harder.
That also meant other users could start entering Crossroad.
Of course, they would have to start with reputation grinding and spend time creating viable combo skills, but the gap he had barely opened could be closed in no time.
Young-min began organizing his future steps in his mind once more.
[Hyper-Realistic VR Game, The Lord: Is This Okay?]
[20-Something Addicted to The Lord Assaults Another User in Real Life, Gets Arrested.]
[VR Games Leading to Real-World Assault and Fraud: Isn't There a Way to Regulate Them?]
The second piece of news was highly negative toward The Lord. It was rated 19+, but its overwhelming realism and the fact that six or seven out of ten people were playing it led to inevitable issues.
Confusion between reality and the game—of course, there were such cases. But the bigger problems were users pouring everything into The Lord, starving in real life due to lack of living expenses, or 'real-life PKs' breaking out.
This had prompted some citizen groups to protest and hold press conferences in front of Falcon's building, the developer and operator. The government and National Assembly gave vague responses like 'We'll look into it.'
"It won't amount to much."
The media was making a big deal out of these negative issues now, but Young-min knew they would fade soon.
Specifically, politics would fan the flames once, face backlash, and then go quiet. They brought up things like re-evaluating the brutality rating or debating the need to rethink the game's service altogether, only for public opinion to erupt in fierce opposition.
The reaction was more intense than expected, so the politicians quickly backed down. A 19+ game meant every user was a voter.
In particular, after the lawmakers who first raised the issue faced all sorts of harassment and plummeting approval ratings, everyone got the message.
The Lord was no longer just a game.
Knowing this, Young-min didn't react much. And because of that, he skimmed over the news about MP Guild's Guild Master Piria disappearing. MP Guild was at best B+ rank anyway, so there was no need to know the details.
"Hmm, alright then. Time to get started."
After roughly scanning the forums, Young-min created a new ID. It was a throwaway for spreading misinformation.
The Lord enforced a one-account-per-person policy, but Korean gamers never followed rules like that. They resorted to old tricks from childhood.
Namely, stealing parents' resident registration numbers.
Account creation required verification, but that wasn't an issue either. He had the certified certificate from handling bank matters for his parents, who weren't tech-savvy, and hadn't deleted it.
With that, Young-min easily made a new ID and immediately started scattering bait across the forums.
It was quest info for the third job advancement.
Since it was a universal Level 100 monster-hunting quest for all jobs, there was no need to worry about regions. Just leaking one bit of info was enough.
1. Upon reaching Level 99, you receive the quest for third job advancement.
2. Completing the job quest gives you a free level-up to Level 100.
3. The job quest content is the same for all jobs: hunt a Level 100 monster.
This much was true. It was info only Level 99 users knew so far, adding credibility.
But Young-min mixed in a tiny bit of fake info.
4. At this point, hunting just any Level 100 monster is meaningless.
5. Hunting a stronger Level 100 monster yields extra rewards.
6. Those extra rewards could be a title or even a hidden class.
Total nonsense.
But 'plausible nonsense' was the problem.
After all, plenty of people had already gotten hidden classes by meeting special conditions.
And most of them were guild 'pets,' so top players would bite—especially after hitting Level 99.
"Heh, go get wrecked."
Of course, he didn't dump all the info at once. He posted threads mixing one or two pieces to build interest, saving the full package for last.
Dumping everything upfront could raise suspicions or get buried.
It might not work, but if it did, it could massively delay their push to the Third City.
"I should prep the rest too."
While at it, Young-min prepared more info dumps for later: methods to reach the Third City, mixed truth and lies, perfect for wasting their time if followed blindly. He wrote up plenty, ready to post anytime.
Top players, teams, and guilds were already under scrutiny, so timing them right wouldn't be hard.
With his info war prep complete, Young-min flopped down and went to sleep. He'd run hard again after waking.
This was when The Lord truly began.
* * *
"Alright, let's get to it."
Once the login cooldown ended, Rokan logged back into The Lord without glancing elsewhere.
New items waited in the shop, and outside town, new, powerful monsters offered great EXP—but without the recognition quests, they were pointless. He knew that.
So better to smash through them in one go.
"First up, the Dwarves."
Excluding humans, the Golden Lion Union's other races numbered three.
Half-Elves, Gnomes, Dwarves.
He needed recognition from all eventually, but Rokan chose Dwarves first for a reason: probability came into play.
"You... Hmph, not trustworthy, but give it a shot if you think you can."
Getting the quests was easy. Enter the racial buildings in Crossroad, say you want recognition, and done.
At [Neutral] rep, they were indifferent, but at [Friendly], they grumbled tsundere-style and handed them out.
'These punks. If it's something even you can't solve, at least be nice about it.'
But these recognition quests were each race's headaches. Things they couldn't handle themselves, tossed out with 'It's nothing much, but do this and we'll recognize you.'
[Special Mineral Mining][Quest]
Mine special minerals produced only in Oronamun Mine to earn the Dwarves' recognition.
Oronamun Mine is currently occupied by kobolds, halting mineral extraction. Your help is needed to meet this month's quota.
-Completion Condition: Blue-glow ore 0/50
-Completion Reward: Dwarven recognition
-Additional rewards based on completion rate
The Dwarves wanted blue-glowing special minerals mined and brought back.
The issue was their warriors couldn't reclaim the mine themselves, but thankfully, Dwarven tech could refine ore lumps into proper ingots.
At this point, most users would think: Get the Miner sub-job for mining skills to make it faster and easier?
'Overthink it and get wrecked.'
But learning mining meant picking up junk ores alongside the quest 'blue-glow ore,' wasting time.
Knowing this, Rokan headed straight to Oronamun Mine. Adding the area map to his magic map meant no need to recall the location.
"Time to loosen up."
Standing before Oronamun Mine, Rokan hefted his new Berserker's Battle Axe instead of the Dwarf-made pickaxe from the quest.
There was more than one way to get blue-glow ore.
"Throwing."
The casually tossed handaxe slammed into the back of a kobold peeking from the entrance.
But unlike in Trinsic, it didn't drop limply. These were over Level 100 elites, so the kobolds turned, axes embedded, snarling in rage.
[Mine Kobold][Lv 110]
The name was familiar, but their combat power was worlds apart from before. Massive stat gaps, plus combo skills.
Not all monsters had unique combos, of course. Most shared one per group—bosses aside—making them straightforward.
Still, those unadjusted to the difficulty sometimes died to a single kobold on their first hunt.
Not an issue for Rokan.
"Small pests are annoying!"
Crack!
Contrary to his words, Rokan's axe perfectly split the kobold's skull. Half a man's size, but Rokan wasn't one to miss over a little shortness.
[Acquired blue-glow ore.]
"What, that's it? I remember struggling back then."
His stats, titles, and crit chance now dwarfed his past self upon arriving in Crossroad.
He chose hunting over sneaky mining knowing this, but even he hadn't expected it to be this easy, wearing a bored look.
Sure, this one ended before combo skills, but he hadn't used his either.
"Alright, let's rampage."
Rokan's goal wasn't just fifty blue-glow ores. It was the follow-up 'Exterminate Mine Kobolds' quest.
He might not get it without accepting it first, but he knew the method already.
Show results beyond expectations, and you get a 'special gift.' That's why Rokan planned to give it a shot.