by Rick Scar
Attention! You have been offered an epic quest: The Monarch’s Will.
Description: The Monarch’s Door has been a mecca for many generations of adventurers, rumored to have been created by the Dragon Emperor. What purpose has he created it for? Why did he care that much about selecting the best rulers? These, and many more, are the questions that you have to answer. But remember: you can only complete this challenge if you prove your worth. Only the one who has the will to survive and an unshakable determination deserves to wear the Monarch’s Ring. One thousand doors are waiting for you. Good luck, adventurer!
Find the door that will bring you to the Monarch, and complete the challenge.
Rewards:
+The Monarch’s Ring;
+1,000,000 XP;
+10,000 Will Points;
+an epic item (random)
Accept?
Yes/No
Notes:
1) The difficulty level of this challenge is set automatically according to your current character and sensitivity level;
2) Once you accept the challenge, the difficulty level will automatically increase by 30%;
3) If you fail the challenge, you will be able to retry it, but please note that the difficulty level will increase by 15% with each new attempt.
Eh? Raven was stunned by the rewards and the task description alike. Find one door – that’s all?
The amount of XP and Will Points — and an epic item — was an obvious sign that the quest would be near-impossible to complete: somewhere between “mission impossible” and “the ninth circle of hell”.
“Are you all right?” Seeing hesitation on Raven’s face, Nanel touched his shoulder, and looked into his eyes.
The two of them stood in a long, white hall that, in accordance with the description, had lots of doors. It seemed to be many miles long, too long to even try to reach its end.
“I… I’m not sure. Take a look around. Find a door you like.” He waved her away and returned to the message.
The problems of his choice were way too obvious. The first was: how to find the door that’d take him to the unknown Monarch? The second was that accepting the task would increase the difficulty level just as much as coming back after two defeats would. But the rewards looked so enticing in the light of his upcoming battle with Insanity that he spent ten more minutes considering it. He knew too well that his initial goal was the Ring and nothing more. He was about to turn the quest down, but the thing that changed his mind was an incredibly rare opportunity to earn ten thousand Will Points at once. An opportunity he was unlikely to get again any time soon.
Calming down, he accepted the quest. Even if he failed, it was worth trying.
Attention! The Monarch’s Will quest has been updated!
+30% difficulty level increase
Choose a door to start the challenge.
Another fork in the road. Another blind choice. Another risk. Another throw of a hundred-sided dice. A choice that’d start the next chain of events, and affect his whole story. Its distant consequences were still invisible, with the wind of change suspended in the air until his next step.
He was surrounded by many different doors of varying colors and sizes, made of known and unknown materials: wood, rubber, air, jelly, twisted space, or even milk. Whoever had created this surely didn’t lack imagination.
He inspected each door as he followed Nanel who, walking ahead, also stopped briefly at each door to take a better look at them.
Ten. Twenty. Hundred. Three hundred.
An hour had passed before Nanel made her choice. The door she had picked was made of some black substance that looked like tar with branching blue lines.
Nanel cast a glance at Raven and, cracking her neck, slowly began to transform. Her hair became longer, and her skin stronger as it took a different color. Her face remained unchanged, but her head now had several bony growths that looked like small horns, and her eyes were facet, although smaller than a real Latian’s eyes. Her hands couldn’t transform into blades like theirs; they just stretched slightly, growing bony claws.
For the first time since her forced awakening, Raven saw her transformation. She ran her index finger down his cheek and smiled.
“Wish me good luck.”
“You’re strong enough to do without it, but still – good luck.” Raven pulled her in for a kiss and said seriously: “Don’t you dare die.”
Nanel wouldn’t linger any longer. She touched the doorknob oozing the same black liquid as the rest of the door and, opening it, took a step into complete darkness.
Once the door closed behind her, it disappeared, giving place to another: an obvious hint that each of these doors could only be used once.
“Alright... I’ll go see where this hall ends. Maybe I’ll find my door there.”
Although all of the doors looked interesting, he had been through too many situations where the most obvious choice ended being the best one. He was curious to see what was behind each door, but the task was to find your door.
Once again he faced the choice between risking wasting his time and strength to see whether he was right, and succumbing to his urges and doing what anyone else would’ve done. How many players, had they reached this place, would’ve walked to the end of the hall? A few hundred, maybe. How many would’ve given up half-way? Dozens. And how many would’ve wasted even more of their precious time to find the answer? Only a few.
He ran. Ran to the crossroads of possibility and luck. Ran after the elusive ray of hope of finding the perfect solution. The blindingly white hall, illuminated by the light emitted by its walls, floor, and ceiling, refused to end. Doors were flashing past him on both sides, along with the message that he should choose one of them, their colors blurring until he couldn’t discern them anymore.
The thought that he was wasting time was becoming more and more persistent with every passing minute. He wanted to stop and choose any random door just to silence it, but he persisted.
Foot after foot. Step after step. And nothing but the bright white of the endless hall ahead, mocking his efforts, laughing at his determination, defying logic, and debunking the fact that everything that had a beginning had to have an end.
This wasn’t his first crazy run in this game. No. Neither was it the first time that he was pushing his limits. Actually, he had been doing it ninety-nine percent of the time, with no more than one percent being casual play. He couldn’t have done it differently; he wasn’t the type to just relax and have fun.
His goal could only be achieved by pushing himself to his absolute limits and overcoming all the obstacles in his way. Enjoying himself wasn’t the way to success. One shouldn’t relax even when they were doing what they loved; the best had become the best only because they never gave up.
Never gave up.
The Corrupted Tomb of Three Wishes. The Corrupted Tomb of Three Deeds. The tablets. More and more challenges. More and more and more. He worked himself to the bone, becoming a better version of himself through blood and pain, strained his mind and hardened his willpower by escaping traps, or reading the minds of enemies and potential allies who could help him become stronger and climb higher.
“Aaaaaaah!” His roar resounded through the hall. Raven ran on, stomping his feet and driving away the thought of failure.
***
Three hours. Five. Nine.
He ran, flew, and leaped, but the hall seemed to reproduce itself to keep him away from the finish line. Where did it begin? Where did it end? Had he reached the midpoint at least? There was no way to know for sure.
He sat down next to one of the doors and tried to catch his breath. That was the end of his marathon, but only for today. Having learned that he could save in this location, he did so by putting his hand to the wall. Sinking to the ground wearily, he rested his hands on his knees, and stared at the ceiling. His anger and exhaustion mixed, giving birth to annoyance but he knew that this task wouldn’t be simple. With a sigh, he tried to reach out
to Nanel before leaving the game.
***
As he fell out of his capsule, he saw Leah at his desk, typing something and glancing at the holographic screen of her brand-new virBook. These devices were really expensive. Developed for working in VR, they could also be used as regular laptops.
“When did you get that?” Will stared at the virBook, trying to guess its price.
“Look who remembered to wake up.” She glanced back, unsurprised, and continued typing. “Bought it this morning. I’ve earned it.” She nodded at the stack of papers Will hadn’t noticed before. “The peace treaty. I’m adding two additional clauses right now. Take a look at it, but bear in mind that it’s just the first draft. I’ll need two or three days to finalize it. And money to pay the lawyers and my teachers. I wouldn’t have done it without their help.”
Will opened his mouth as he listened, wondering when she could’ve managed all that. As he read through the draft, he winced at the lots of unfamiliar terms, his mind still clouded from the exhausting race. Sighing, he put the papers aside.
“Don’t you think it’s a waste of money? Do you really need a virBook?”
“Oh, you bet that I do,” she replied without further explanation.
Will was confused. He remembered her scolding him and Darius for buying too much food for her birthday.
“Um… okay. Is dad home?”
“He’ll come later.”
“Okay.” He checked the time. “Is there anything to eat? I’m starving.”
“Sorry, I didn’t have time to cook. I was too busy.” She lifted his note and the printed screenshots, letting him know that he was what had kept her up.
Will patted her on the head with an understanding nod.
“You’re the smartest girl on earth. How was school?” He stretched and went to the kitchen.
“Business as usual. Nothing to report. Make food for all of us. I’ll join you soon.”
“Okay.” He smiled and started cooking, thinking of how much he had been missing his family. Now the three of them were together. Again.
***
For the next four days, he kept running aimlessly – only to discover more and more of the endless white void. He had wasted five days on this wild goose chase.
He kept urging himself on, but his goal remained as distant as ever. He felt depressed, raging at the thought of his rivals using these five days to gain an advantage. The fact that he was the reason behind this waste of time wasn’t helping. When he achieved nothing by the end of day six, he lost his temper.
“Fucking shit! Fuck everything! Argh! Motherfucker!”
He was angry with himself. With the system. With this sickeningly clean and stainless hall. He desperately needed something to vent his rage on, and the nearest door became his target. After he delivered a few blows, it suddenly disappeared, giving place to another.
He kept attacking the doors until he realized that something was wrong.
“What the…?” He landed two hesitant blows – and saw another door in front of himself. “What the shit?”
He understood why the door had changed after Nanel’s entrance… or at least he thought it was pretty clear. But why would they disappear after hitting them? He tilted his head to the side, considering his discovery, and, for test purposes, turned to the passage behind him. A series of quick attacks – and the doors changed.
“Oh, that’s interesting.” He was no longer as angry as he had been five minutes before. Finally, he had something to busy himself with. “Should I begin counting them? Just for the fun of it?”
Chapter 272. The Monarch’s Will
F loor Three. The Misty Veil location.
Two days before the tournament.
“I’m telling you: there’s nothing here.” Beacon, who played an Alasket, lifted her hands in dismay.
The Alasket race was one of the most complicated in Ascension, with their small HP pool that made them rather vulnerable, but they were also the best scouts: fast and agile, with a strong skill set for detection and pursuit.
They were astral-bound creatures. Almost as fleshless as water elementals, they still had a humanoid shape. They had no eyes or ears, and their entire body was covered with a veil of illusion, making them look as if they were suspended between two worlds, living in both at once. However, lack of sight and hearing wasn’t a handicap but an advantage as it made them rely on their sense of smell and touch instead, resulting in greater awareness of their surroundings. They could not only sense any sort of magic, but also (provided that their skills were well-developed) predict where it’d go. Besides that, they could sense motion, thanks to the waves of astral energy emitted by their bodies.
Per her clanmate Diar’s request, Beacon had been looking for the Monarch’s Door for two days already. According to Diar, he had bumped into it by accident while grinding in this area. But when he tried to find it again, he couldn’t.
“And I’m telling you that I saw it!” he insisted. Sitting on a rock, he was ardently convincing his clanmates that the mysterious location existed. “You’ve seen my logs. Shit! Why don’t you believe me?”
“We do.” One of his clanmates tossed a dry twig up into the air and shot an arrow at it, shattering it to pieces. It was his way of dealing with boredom. “We saw that message, but there’s no such place. It must’ve been a glitch. How many more times do you need to hear that?”
They were all members of Wind Harmony, a little-known clan. They had come here per Diar’s call, but the two days they had wasted here instead of leveling their characters up had made them a bit uneasy.
“If we hadn’t wasted so much time on your stupid tests, we could’ve completed Golkar’s quest. Did you forget what we’d get for it? Sixty units of gold! Which we need to buy new gear. I hate these rags.” Beacon sighed. Her clanmates nodded compassionately. “Seriously, Diar. The tournament is upon us, and we’re making no progress. It’s been a week already.”
Looking at the trio, Diar pretended to agree. But that very evening, he called for a secret meeting in the local inn.
He was nervous. He had got a member of a TOP clan, Messengers of Heavens, to hear him out, and now he was to tell his story again and hope that he’d be believed. He had been waiting for Tak-Parito, one of the Messengers, for already a half an hour over a mug of cheap ale.
Finally, the door swung open, letting a Dwarf in. Tak-Parito took a glance around and saw a demonologist waving at him. Coming up, he sat on the bench next to him and stared at the guy.
“Spit it out. What have you found? What exactly do you want my clan to pay for?”
“I…”
Having finished his one-minute talk, Diar cringed, expecting a sneer, but Tak-Parito, unlike his friends, seemed to believe his words right away. He stood up and beckoned Diar to follow him. Once they were outside and in private, the Dwarf looked around and unsealed a scroll, his eyes fading. A few seconds later, Diar heard him talk to someone.
“Hi. Are you busy? No? Great. Do you remember that lead to the Monarch’s Door quest? You’ve mentioned it in a meeting. Yes. Looks like I’ve found a guy who saw it. Sure? Okay. See you.”
Finishing his conversation, Tak-Parito turned back to Diar.
“Have you told any other clan about this?”
“No. I’ve only told my friends. But they didn’t believe me.”
“Great. We’ll have to take a walk. Our leader wants to meet you.”
“Son of Hercules?!” Diar was startled. He couldn’t even imagine that his discovery would get a TOP clan leader’s interest. “You... won’t kill me, will you?”
He squinted at the Dwarf who instantly dismissed the joke.
“Do you think we’re idiots? That’s no way to do business. If your info turns out to be useful, we’ll reward you. You may even get to join our clan. He’ll tell you all of it.”
When the two of them disappeared around the corner, heading for the teleport, a thief stepped out of stealth mode far behind them and, fo
lding his arms, contacted one of the Lynchers.
“I’m calling on business. Yes. In an inn, I met the Messengers guy who’s responsible for player relations… What? No. Some bloke from an unknown clan. Told him some nonsense about some Monarch’s Door… Why should I know that? Yes. That’s exactly what he said. As far as I understood it, this location is hidden somewhere in the Misty Veil. Yes, the place almost void of mobs. What? No. I couldn’t hear more. He dropped a block. Where are they now? Went somewhere together. Okay. I’ll let the others know. Bye.”
***
Two days later, after multiple attacks by the Faceless Army, Son of Hercules had to accept their offer to join forces for this exploration. Had the two clans kept fighting and sabotaging each other, they could’ve wasted a great deal of time without making any progress.
Not to mention that his analysts had failed to find out why the Monarch’s Door was so important.
This location, famous for its mist, had kept them away from the Door for a good while. But once they were reached, groups of authorized players began to test their luck with the challenge, which turned out to be anything but easy.
First of all, the minimal sensitivity level required to complete this challenge was a hundred percent. Such locations were many. Whichever clan discovered them would mark them as their property to keep other players and clans away. Various third-party websites and bloggers were making their own lists of such locations because of the extremely valuable loot and skills that could be obtained there. It was one of the perks mentioned by the system at the very beginning, when it offered you to choose your sensitivity level.
Secondly, those who had been tasked with completing this dungeon had experienced the full pain of the increasing difficulty level after failing. Thirdly, and most annoyingly, the doors were different every time, preventing them from coming up with a proper strategy.
The upsides included lots of XP, and a chance, albeit very small, of getting valuable loot.