The quietness of the castle felt eerie. Literally, no one was there besides Jin.
The Priyan Kingdom, after being sealed off, had been a desolate area. What made things even worse was that the demons residing within the kingdom still haven't respawned even after an entire day. Jin waited, but nothing happened.
Is he being left alone on his own devices? Is there no way that those demons could return?
'Should I just wait until the counter ticks down to see if something would happen?' Jin thought as he stared at the timer at the upper right corner of his vision. The timer that granted the Priyan Kingdom temporary protection from the outside world.
[5 days, 20 hrs., 48 min.]
The timer ticked ever so slowly, making Jin feel weirdly comfortable. The temporary protection was totally unexpected, but it was something that he was thankful for. If not for it, stronger players might've arrived already and swarmed the entire place while it was still very vulnerable. For now, he aimed to fix the kingdom all by himself before the timer ends.
…
Status
Name: Jin Vel Frey [Jin] LV: 13
Job: Demon King
Title: The One Who Gained Sentience (+1), Effect: grants S.P.C. (Passive)
(1-) Demon Royalty Successor
…
Jin inspected his status page while walking around the desolate Priyan Kingdom. He felt extremely lonely seeing that not even dead bodies were littered around. However, Jin didn't find all this surprising. For now, focusing would be the way to go for him if he wants to redeem himself from all his past failure.
'I merely gained thirteen levels after killing those players. Is this not a bit underwhelming though? Considering how huge the level gap was, I expected a larger level boost…' Jin pondered after seeing that the experience points he gained was unremarkable.
He gained nothing more but stat points.
'Ah, I shouldn't think about this too much. I'll just assign the stat points I gained…'
'Assign 60 points to STR'...'Assign 5 points to LUK'
---
STR: 85 --- INT: 0
AGI: 0 --- DEX: 0
VIT: 0 --- LUK: 10
Stat Points: 30 (Base) + 65 (Levels) + 0 (Bonus). 0/95 Total.
---
HP: 9,000
MP: 50
Fatigue: 1
---
Without hesitation, Jin assigned the majority of his stat points to STR, granting him once more a huge chunk of raw HP. Oddly enough, he assigned another 5 points to LUK. It was and has been, a questionable choice, but for Jin, a boost of 1% to random chances could definitely be a deciding factor in the future; he could feel it in his demon heart.
Jin strolled further down the kingdom, ultimately reaching the outskirts.
The iron gates that once stood tall amongst the hard brick walls were now nowhere to be seen. Jin could clearly see the outside world, a place beyond the Priyan Kingdom. A place he never had the chance to venture before. He was born a royalty, and even within the demon race, they were treated way too extravagantly that they weren't allowed to put themselves in danger by venturing outside the walls.
Jin mindlessly walked further.
...
[Ding! Player has successfully triggered the (Main Questline)]
[Issuing Main Questline…]
...
'Huh? I triggered a questline?' Jin wondered.
The notification was so sudden that it jogged his attention back. It would seem like with a foot stepping outside the very kingdom itself, he somehow triggered something called a 'Main Questline'. Although it was another term that was new to Jin, a subconscious feeling welled inside of him; telling him that this was something very important.
Paying much more attention this time, Jin waited for another notification to appear.
---
[Main Questline (Player- Jin): A Formidable Demon Kingdom]
[Quest 1 of 13: Reach LV 20]
["As the king of a demonic kingdom, you should strengthen yourself; one step at a time."]
[Reward: 10 bonus stat points]
---
The quest that appeared wasn't all too surprising. Instead, it was something that Jin even anticipated. After hearing yesterday's game announcement regarding the recalculation of the Priyan Kingdom's difficulty, it was the logical move to have the kingdom strengthened— worthy enough to be labeled as an S-rank area.
"If I were to increase my level, I should venture further outside rather than staying here. This place is empty… No wonder this questline triggered the moment I stepped outside." Jin muttered to himself. The first quest didn't feel all that challenging, but seeing that it was the first one out of thirteen more quests, Jin felt like he couldn't slack off.
Common sense would tell that he has to finish all thirteen within the span of the timer.
'This should be easy, but… I barely have six days left. I should get moving.'
Jin picked up his pace as he quickly ran further outside the kingdom, closely following behind him was the demonic saint sword Seyna; majestically hovering whilst cutting through the air as it moved. The duo of a demon and a demonic sword left the desolate walled city of the once glorious Priyan Kingdom.
---
[You defeated a 'Grass Viper']... [You received 100 EXP]... [520/6,450 EXP to LV 14]
...
[You defeated a 'Shrub Snake']... [You received 20 EXP]... [540/6,450 EXP to LV 14]
...
[You defeated a 'Spring Crow']... [You received 80 EXP]... [620/6,450 EXP to LV 14]
…
"Tsk, this is harder than I thought…"
Beads of sweat dripped down the face of Jin as he bitterly muttered.
After opting to go armorless, even weak monsters could damage him with ease. However, it was a tactic he somehow formed after having to work around his skill and passive. The pain from the attacks wasn't the thing that bugged Jin though, it was something else...
Upon reaching the forest closest to the kingdom, a place which technically is still inside the restricted area of the Priyan Kingdom, Jin encountered something "surprising". Leveling himself was insanely hard! A lot harder than what he initially expected.
Jin's prowess in killing weak monsters is actually above average, thanks to Seyna, but with his pitiful EXP rate per minute, he'll be fatigued even before reaching LV 14. It had been three hours since he started killing monsters, but he had not reached a thousand yet in his experience meter. It wasn't that the monsters were scarce; in fact, he killed around thirty of them already, however, the minuscule amount of EXP they give gave Jin a headache.
"This will definitely take a while…"
With the clock ticking and having no other choice, Jin could only work harder.
Resting once in a while to reduce the number in his fatigue meter, Jin's path to a stressful grind had only just begun. 'Tsk, who's the idiot that said this first quest would be easy…'