by Japtem
At the Magician's words, the players started to talk amongst themselves.
Monsters organized an army and invaded a castle? It was an unimaginable event.
Users who started in the Schudenberg Kingdom all went through Jackson Castle. All the users held their breath and stared piercingly at the Magician.
"If left as it is, Jackson Castle will be completely trampled by the Dark Army. But most of Schudenberg's forces are stationed in the frontier regions, so deploying them will take nine days. Therefore, the Magic Institute has considered the urgent issue and has decided to recruit volunteers from all regions."
"Volunteers? Does that mean we can also participate?"
"Of course. We are urgently recruiting brave warriors to save Jackson Castle. The Magic Institute promises a great reward for he who contributes in the war. Those who call themselves brave adventurers, please gather immediately at Magic Institute Tower. We have no time. The airship sent by the Magic Institute will depart Giran for Jackson Castle in 3 hours."
"It's a special event!"
"An event where one can get awarded by the Magic Institute!"
Wide-eyed users flocked to the Magic Institute Tower. Of course, Ark was also mixed in with the others and ran towards the tower.
But because the airship had a fixed capacity, not all players could be used. Magic Institute Magicians checked the players' info one by one and only granted the quest to the qualified.
"Next person, please."
When Ark approached, a Magician pushed a crystal ball toward him. Then, Ark's character information window popped up before his eyes.
Character Name
Ark
Race
Human
Alignment
Good +100
Fame
700
Level
68
Profession
Dark Walker
Title
Cat Knight, Soul Caretaker
Health
1,415
Mana
975 (+100)
Spiritual Power
100
Strength
178
Agility
218 (+17)
Stamina
268
Wisdom
27
Intelligence
186
Luck
43
Flexibility
15
Affection
23
Art of Communication
18
Special Stat: Knowledge of Ancient Relics
63
Equipment Effects
Black Bear Mouse Leather Armor: Agility 2, Frost Resistance +20
Cat Paws: Attack Speed +10%, Agility +15, Critical Hit Rate +10%
Crystal Golem's Head: Mana +100
*All abilities will increase by 30% in the dark.
* You have the ability to hide in the darkness (15 minute duration. Cancelled when you get into combat).
* Resistance to Fear, Darkness, Blind, and Seduction spells is increased by 50%.
*You can bring out the true abilities from all types of tools.
From the EXP he'd earned in Grey Ridge and from checking the Star Fragment, he had leveled up to 68. His Health was 1,415, and his Intelligence had also risen from examining Ancient Relics to bring his Mana close to 1,000. And although it didn't appear in the equipment effects, the attack power from Lancel's Sword couldn't be ignored. If he equipped the Guardian Armor of Merpeople on top of that, a Warrior was nothing to be jealous of. With his Agility over 200, it greatly increased his critical rate, evasion, and damage. Since his various other skills had also improved dramatically, he was at a level where it wasn't embarrassing to show his stats.
As expected, the Magician's crystal ball recognized Ark's skill and shone with blue light.
"Thank you for volunteering. Please take this badge. This symbolizes your participation in the battle as a member of the Magic Institute. Please head to the top of the tower now. The airship will arrive soon."
Magic Institute Badge
A badge given to those who participate in the defense of Jackson Castle through the Magic Institute. If the battle is won, those with the badge will be rewarded by the Magic Institute according to their contribution.
As soon as he received the badge, a quest window popped up.
Hero Assembly (Event Quest)
An unknown Dark Army has launched a surprise attack on Jackson Castle. The Lord and his soldiers are currently doing their best to block them, but the Dark Army is overwhelming them.
You must defeat the Dark Army before the Jackson walls that have protected the peace of the residents collapse. It is an opportunity to show the skill you have honed and polished through your long journey.
The hero who contributes greatly to the rescue of Jackson Castle will receive the reward prepared by the Magic Institute.
(You must protect Jackson Castle or defeat the Dark Army after three days in real time or until the arrival of the Schudenberg Kingdom's forces. If you die, the quest will be automatically failed and you will not be able to log in for 72 hours as the quest progresses.)
Difficulty: ++C
Quest Restrictions: Level 60 (A player under the minimum level cannot be recognized for their contribution even if they participate in the battle)
"Huh?" As he checked the system after eating dinner, Kim Gwon-tae cried out in surprise. The monitor suddenly turned black as an enormous amount of data came up like crazy.
"What's it doing all of a sudden?" Startled, Kim Gwon-tae focused on the data screen. The data coming up like crazy was all in preparation for a single event.
After hastily flipped through a thick booklet and compared it to what was on the screen, Kim Gwon-tae screamed.
"Team Leader, a protect-type level C event has activated!"
"What?" Ha Myung-woo came running in as he asked, "What are the activation conditions?"
"I will check it now."
Kim Gwon-tae took out a laptop, connected it to the main computer, and checked the data while typing as if possessed. He found a few conditions and answered, "It's an event having to do with the 7 Heroes. The starting condition is that there have to be at least 4 players with a Hero-related profession and 2 of them have to find a clue about the Heroes."
"Damn, it's progressing too quickly. Kim Dae-ri, do we have any way to find the players with Hero-related profession? If you can also find the players who found the clues, even better."
"It's impossible at this time. There are scores of Hero-related professions. Among those, there are people who failed the quest for job-changing and a few who succeeded. What we can do with the system is too limited, so it's impossible to investigate them all. The only player we've currently confirmed as having found a Hero clue is Alan, who job-changed to Holy Knight. You probably know this, but he is one of the applicants."
"Is there a way to interfere with the event?"
"No."
"Does it mean all we can do is watch...?" Ha Myung-woo bit his lower lip angrily.
It was pathetic. New World, the perfect virtual reality game that still remained unparalleled. But for Ha Myung-woo, New World was full of faults. The game was perfect, but because it was so perfect, it couldn't be controlled by an administrator.
A sword you can't use is no better than a stick.
'Damn those crazy bastards!'
Nausea rose to his throat. He was cursing the developers he had boasted of so vigorously in the reception room.
Those so-called world-class scholars seemed to have gone a little touched in the head after working on the game for a long time. In the end, they fell under the misconception that they were true Creators. That was the start of all the problems.
The world they created must be perfect. A perfect world where all existences must obey the absolute laws.
With those absolute laws, the creations accepted the game as one world and had to overcome trials prepare
d by the Creator to write a new history--- it was a world where no external influences were permitted.
The result of such a crazy idea was an unprecedented virtual reality game, the true nature of New World.
The developers put up so many locks that there was almost nothing an administrator could do freely. The planning team tried to use all sorts of methods and means to break those locks, but it was all for naught.
As a result, the understanding of New World by the planning team was not much different from what the players knew. They couldn't find out what kind of professions there were, or what kind of skills, even what kind of events would happen.
Even the operation of the game was the will of the AI constructing the game and not because they wanted it. They had released the game since the investment had been enormous, but nobody knew how the game would unfold. Of course the planning team didn't know, and even the developers, who called themselves Creators...
From the perspective of Global Exos, this was an extremely dangerous situation. Collecting players for the entrance exam was actually just an excuse to probe the system.
'Park Woo-seong, you bastard!' Ha Myung-woo ground his teeth.
All the locks on the game were from the developer who had disappeared with the game's completion. Park Woo-seong, a developer who boasted fame as a genius game designer.
In any case, as long as Park Woo-seong didn't release the locks, there was no way for the planning team to engage with the game.
"Then at least search for information on the players involved with the event."
"But..."
"Even if you have to look up hundreds of players one at a time, find them before the event ends! If we find them, it'll be possible to predict when the next event will begin."
"Understood." Kim Gwon-tae's fingers danced across the keyboard.
An event no one predicted was happening. A new history was about to begin in New World.
TO BE CONTINUED...
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Table of Contributions
Volume 2 of Ark
Written by: Yoo Seong
Translators: AnmesicCat, Charles, and Lei
Proofreader: Mathew
Compiled by I_Dude
japtem.com
* * *
ACT 1 : Special Army of Familiars
This chapter is brought to you by AnmesicCat, Asuki, Haikai, Kirito, Lei, and Mathew1122. Special mentions to Crytach and Grey.
ACT 2 : Hatchling
This chapter is brought to you by AnmesicCat, Crytach, Lei, and OpenBookWorm.
ACT 3 : Underwater City of Nodelesse
This chapter was brought to you by AnmesicCat, BlankBlank, Charles, Lastear, Lei, Mathew, and Openbookworm.
ACT 4 : Win the Hearts of the People
This chapter was brought to you by AnmesicCat, BlankBlank, Charles, Lei, and Mathew.
ACT 5 : The White Whale's Labyrinth
This chapter was brought to you by AnmesicCat, BlankBlank, Charles, Lei, Masadeer, and OpenBookWorm.
ACT 6 : Soul Caretaker
This chapter was brought to you by AnmesicCat, BlankBlank, Charles, Lei, Masadeer, and OpenBookWorm.
ACT 7 : Battle of the Grey Ridge
This chapter was brought to you by AnmesicCat, BlankBlank, Charles, Lastear, Lei, and Masadeer.
ACT 8 : Giran, a Merchant's Battlefield
This chapter was brought to you by AnmesicCat, Charles, Lei, and Masadeer.
ACT 9 : Hero Assembly
This chapter was brought to you by AnmesicCat, BlankBlank, Charles, Droker, and Lei.