For the past few days, Seymus City has been devoid of busy activities.
After the raid failure, most of the players returned to their respective kingdoms and cities. They couldn't bare and stay in a place that bores no fruit. However, a handful of people remained. Curiously enough, just three days before the reopening of the Priyan Kingdom area, a surge of mysterious players came into the city.
They were "mysterious" because not one of them was the same person during the raid. In addition, none of them were weak. In fact, they were all much stronger than any of the raid players before. It was easy to speculate that they were there for the new S-rank area. Some of the newer players who only played Dark Descent during the opening of the fourth server were apprehensive about the arrival of these players. Even those who played the game right after the opening of the Altrius Continent could say that none of these players were new to the game. There was only one explanation for all of these—
'Server-hopping, huh.' Scarlet, Cherise's sister and the fearsome Third Server's Mistress Death, immediately noticed the rise of players from outside the Altrius Continent. 'I guess those old goons back in Aryujin are anxious why I came here, huh. Well, I wasn't really here for that S-rank area, it's just heaven blessing me for all my hard work.' Scarlet thought to herself, a giggle escaped her bright red lips.
"What are you suddenly laughing at?" Cherise, who's seated beside Scarlet, noticed the elated expression on her sister's face. Even in Dark Descent, her sister was as devious as ever, she couldn't help but feel uneasy whenever she was around her.
"Ah, it's nothing," Scarlet replied briefly, a grin painted on her face.
---
Strong winds blew past the group of Lang the closer they got to the Priyan Kingdom. Although these were artificial winds projected by neural simulation, they felt all too real thanks to the technological advancement in virtual reality. Dark Descent was indeed a groundbreaking innovation in the full-dive VRMMORPG genre.
Although they hesitated to follow Lang, the other members of the Dark Mane Guild, who were sent with him, could not retort his command. If they did, they would be in a "sticky" situation— a situation where they would ultimately waste another in-game life because of a psychopathic player who loves to kill others. Among the remaining eighteen members of the group, only a few of them were aligned with Evil, but even they were not as extreme as Lang, who does not hesitate in killing even his fellow guild members.
The rest of the trip was eerily quiet. Not one of the Dark Mane members made a noise.
…
A semi-transparent red dome covered the entire area of the Priyan Kingdom, marking the restriction point to which no single player could either get in or out. The coverage of the dome extended far and wide, encompassing not only the main kingdom but also areas around it, such as the forbidden forest and the northern mountain ranges.
A time display could be seen flashing on the screen-like dome— [2 days, 22 hrs., 47 min.]
The members of the Dark Mane Guild led by Lang soon reached the vicinity.
Upon reaching the dome, a devious grin suddenly appeared on Lang's face, he then muttered, "Ah, just what I expected, a very basic restriction sphere... The devs of this game really need to step up their game to protect their assets. If it wasn't for this annoying bad weather simulation around this area, more players might have come here already."
The other members of the guild were confused about what Lang was saying. What's he laughing for? Has this psycho finally lost it? Is he going insane over the red dome? It is a restricted area for a reason, dumbass! Although these were the thoughts echoing in their minds and the feeling bubbling in their hearts, they remained silent.
Under the strange gazes of the other members, Lang suddenly reached his palm on the red dome. What was he thinking!? He had really lost it! The others could not help but cry in shock, only to see that the restriction sphere did not affect Lang at all. A shadowy figure burst out of Lang's hand, it crept at great speeds to the highest point of the dome.
*Boom!*
A loud explosion echoed and a part of the sphere, facing Lang, suddenly cracked open. "You should all stop blabbering nonsense there and follow me." Lang looked proud of himself and ordered the other members of the Dark Mane Guild to follow. As to how he was able to destroy part of the restriction sphere, some members could only guess—
If it were not because Lang has a personality disorder, he would have been the guild leader of the Dark Mane. He was a very talented person in terms of gaming strategy and tactics. He, being some kind of renowned genius in the game and following an evil-aligned path, sometimes made it a trend to PK others for the sake of earning Infamy points. Although things are unclear as to what benefit those points are, besides some exclusive items, they still followed believing the genius that was Lang.
Ultimately, a person like Lang who creates strategies and tactic would, sooner than later, take the path of glitch exploits and bug abuse. If the other Dark Mane members could guess; Lang creating a way to get through the restriction could be easily linked to him earning too much Infamy points and loving the idea of bug and glitch exploitation.
Of course, these were all wild guesses. As to how he really did it, none dared ask.
---
Jin aimlessly circled around the throne room. After giving Meldor the freedom to choose where they would live outside the walled city, he was left with no other urgent tasks than the main questline. "It would seem that the second quest was too far away from what I initially expected..." Jin murmured. Seeing that the second quest was some sort of a gathering mission, Jin felt like the possibility of him finishing it soon was uncertain.
It would really take time before he could improve the kingdom's armory.
...
[Quest 2 of 13: Improve Thy Armory]
["Increase your kingdom's combat capability. It takes more than good soldiers to fight a war; you need good armors and weapons as well. Develop or manufacture weapons and armors to increase your soldier's combating ability. Reach a hundred on the quest meter.]
[Current Progress: 0/100 ]
[Reward(s): 10 bonus stat points, Skill: 'Clairvoyant Sight']
…
Once again, Jin stared blankly at the quest, scratching his head in confusion. "If I have to improve the armory, I need someone who knows how to smithy weapons..." If only the kingdom wasn't... empty, Jin would have looked for a worthy blacksmith in his kingdom to improve the kingdom's armory.
Learning the skill of forging and blacksmithing himself was out of the question. First of all, Jin himself believes that although everything was inside a game, everyone was born and created for a specific purpose, and he himself was not fit for those things. If it weren't for the SPC granting him the ability to get stronger, Jin wouldn't even dare to think of being someone who would be a fighter. He was quite satisfied with handling the government's affairs back then, it was just that the world in which he existed follows the law of the strong. Being smart whilst being weak just wouldn't cut it.
With no clue as to how he would proceed, Jin haphazardly went to the castle's armory. He was half-expecting that the armory in itself would be empty, as the weapons inside were handed over to the soldiers during the raid. Half of him hoped, however, that he'd find something that could give him some idea on how to proceed with the second quest.
Jin unsheathed the demonic sword Seyna from his back, toggling the skill on. If he turns the skill off, the greatsword becomes a heavy block of a burden on his back. Although his physique was quite fine, a toned body overall, it wasn't really impressive for a demon of such a high status. Even with the STR buff coming from his status and armor, Jin could still feel the pain in his back from carrying the sword all the time; sure enough, the fatigue meter and his HP bar were not all affected. Some limits could not just be seen.
…
Jin reached the golden door of the castle's armory, Seyna was floating behind him.
The huge door, which looked more like a city gate than an ordinary entrance, overlooked him as it glinted a cold light, as if deceased demons possessed the very metal of which the door was made. By how glossy the gate looked, it was apparent that it was kept in a very good condition—
Jin could even see his reflection just by looking at it, it could more or less serve as a kind of mirror. Even with the golden hue of the gate, Jin's predominantly rustic colored skin could be clearly seen, even the little horns around his head, forming a unique looking crown, could be seen on the gate reflection. "Eh... I've always hated these horns of mine... they look odd." Jin was suddenly reminded of why he prefers not to cut his hair short and why, most of the time, he would wear a crowned helmet even though it was not a prerequisite for demon kings to do so. Without the distraction of the horns, Jin could proudly say that he was quite the handsome devil, quite a notch above his peers.
Retrieving the crowned heir's ring in his satchel, Jin was about to unlock the armory when suddenly...
*Boom!*
A loud explosion resounded outside. The timer in the corner of Jin's vision suddenly flickered, disappearing for a moment, then returning to the next. That was not just a random explosion.' Jin muttered. If it were not for the fact that the timer was affected, Jin would have rejected it as nothing but a commotion outside the Priyan Kingdom, however...
Jin ran out of the kingdom immediately, heading to where the Freya race was now residing. Although Jin was now relatively stronger, the Freya people could really make things easier. It would be a shame if Jin did not use their mutual partnership in emergencies.