V54C4P1- Plan of Annihilation
*Rumble!*
The users that arrived at the desert through the teleport gate felt like they were going to choke due to the intense heat.
Geomchi nodded his head while riding on his two-hump camel.
“The weather is nice.”
“My spine is on fire.”
“Let us go now. Giddy-up!”
They charged through the desert heat and hills of sand with Geomchi in the lead.
The warriors that gathered to defeat Kaybern followed behind them on camels.Thus began the hell in the desert. .
Battle after battle.
They fought and fought, an endless engagement.
“All men, charge!”
The desert had many regions that had yet to be explored.
There existed mirages, underground worlds, and at times they entered the zone of fire.
Even the fragments of the ‘Great King of the Desert” quest that Weed accomplished in the past had been rewritten into a new history.
They were eager to fight battles anywhere they went.
They fed themselves on top of the camels and battled while on the move.
“As the youngest one said, we can battle every day without using our brains. How convenient is that?”
“Very.”
“The guys are fighting quite well.”
“They say levels make you stronger, and it seems to be true. Although they seem a bit too reliant on skills.”
“We gotta take them to more challenging battles. These guys said they’re alright with dying a few times.”
“It saves me from boring battles, so that is fine with me.”
Geomchi followed Weed’s advice and took the battalion to seek for more powerful enemies.
They tread through the murderous heat, fought against enemies with bodies of sand, and hunted for giant scorpions.
They even set foot in the mystic lands of flames and met the Sun warriors.
Deep in the desert, the population was low but full of strong warriors.
“This is a darn hassle.”
“It’s hell. The battles are tiresome, but above all that, the heat is driving me insane.”
“ Wow… I must have been half crazy when I agreed to join this quest.”
The complaints of users had already surfaced since starting the second day.
Even if they had high levels, they had never experienced this kind of battle.
Like usual, they put a lot of effort into the choice of the hunting ground much like Weed would have. They prepared for hunting grounds that were highly efficient and dropped many items.
In the event of hunting boss-level monsters, they would start preparing a few days earlier and gathered composure.
“Here, you roam anywhere and fight. It is reckless and frantic.”
“Coral died yesterday.”
“Seriously? This is too dangerous…”
“Shouldn’t we complain?”
“We did. But, they keep saying that warriors will get stronger when they know what it’s like to die. Words are impermeable to their heads.”
“In honesty, we cannot demand anything face to face. Their appearance is frightening. We have higher levels, but using brute strength over them might turn us into enemies of the Arpen Empire.”
“Even if a few more die from now, the hunting plans will not change one bit.”
After the third day, the users gathered around early in the morning and discussed their dissatisfaction. Some decided to quit.
“This is as far as I will go. Best of luck to you all, stay safe.”
“Yeah. I’m quitting too. I thought I was lending a hand in slaying the Black Dragon, but this isn’t the way I wanted it to be.”
A number of quitters sprang from the group, unable to withstand the rigorous schedule.
“I should have hunted alone.”
“Same here. If we talk about efficiency, there are better hunting grounds than this place. We don’t have to be here alongside people who are lower in levels than us.”
However, the entire scene was being filmed by several broadcast networks.
Weed was granted of all rights regarding broadcasting to all those who agreed to participate in the hunt of the Black Dragon Kaybern.
The quest signees certainly agreed because they desired to be on the broadcast, and imagined to being portrayed as brave heroes on TV.
The scene of themselves charging towards Black Dragon Kaybern!
Weed spoke with the broadcast personnel on the side.
“Please have a devilish producer on this broadcast.”
“Are you being serious?”
“Yes. Good footage will come through soon enough, but there will be some trial and error. I need someone who is going to edit “out of context” intentionally. A show needs a catch for it to be successful.”
“That is the way it works, but…”
“If we do not pull this off, the other broadcasts will get increased views.”
Weed’s influence in the broadcast industry was absolute. Even in the past, his fame turned all major broadcast networks to bow under him.
Now that he had control over the Central Continent and established domination, the broadcast networks surely knew well of his acumen.
“We shall find the most infamous producers.”
“Yes. But, it must be completely factual. No forgery. I do not like controversy smoking up among the viewers. A bit of seasoning is acceptable. It makes a dish taste rich.”
The captains and department chiefs of all broadcast stations took Weed’s words to heart.
“We can get a good shot right here where the users are taking off…”
“You bet. I think it will serve well for the intro.”
“This will grab some attention for sure.”
The infamous producers with their relentless editing skills sent on air the users that were complaining about the battles and food soon after they got to the desert.
Moreover, they added special effects to the scenery of the desert from which the users were drifting away.
The scenes of Black dragon Kaybern attacking Castle Evaluk, cities being destroyed by monsters, and civilians being slaughtered overlapped with the users that were leaving.
The devilish producers were stirring up emotional appeal with their expertise.
– I am watching the live cast right now, and I’m at a loss for words. They went all the way to the desert to slay Kaybern, but all they did was complain and now they’re just quitting?
– Why go there in the first place if you’re gonna do that?
– Did they expect to live in hotels at the desert or something?
– Dragon Slaying. They all gathered their strengths for that grand objective. They were too low-level to confront the dragon, hence they hunted with great effort. For them to quit so early though…
– Ha… That is annoying. They’re pissing me off..
– Bacus? That user led them to quit.
The aftereffect of broadcast was as substantial, no different from a live cast. The internet went viral, and Bacus appeared at the very top of the real time search.
1st Bacus
2nd Seoyoon
3rd Bacus runaway
4th Bacus Level
5th Seoyoon Goddess
6th Bacus Character
7th Weed
8th Seoyoon School
9th Seoyoon Body
10th Kaybern
From 1st to 10th on the search engine, Bacus appeared 4 times.
It was the power of the media, but it was also that Bacus was a famous user over level 500.
On the next day, the users were battling on the hunting grounds without any other thoughts.
Due to the influence of the media, they realized what kind of negativity they could receive.
“Now they’re really up to the task.”
Even Geomchi and the instructors were satisfied.
Bacus and the runaways returned hastily in the morning.
“I apologize. Everyone. I will fight with my all from now on.”
In a few hours, his attitude had changed completely.
***
Weed commenced the monster eradication with those who gathered for the Kaybern hunt.
Mages and archers flew toward the monsters, riding on the backs of the Avians.
Numerous kinds of monsters spawned on ground level from the dungeons and were advancing towards human cities.
Weed’s shout exploded.
– Fire. Blast them away!
Thousands of magical spells of mages bombarded the ground, and archers fired arrows.
They were job classes most specialized in ranged attack!
– Kuuuoogh! Unleash the wrath of Kaybern-nim!
The skins of the monsters turned black, raising their defense and attack.
The ones that crawled out from the deepest parts of the dungeons were powerful, able to withstand several magical attacks.
They resisted by tossing boulders into the sky and activated their special abilities that raised winds.
Even so, the scattershot of magical spells were about to annihilate the monsters.
“Dead Rise!”
Weed summoned the undead.
A combination of mages and necromancers that never in any way seemed harmonious!
On top of the massive firepower, the undead that will draw the enemy were summoned.
The mages at the end of battle were amazed.
“I gained so many levels.”
“Combat achievements complete just like that.”
In a party of 5 or 6, the mages only use spells necessary in hunting.
The usual spells that they practice are types of spells that deal fatal damage to a monster or two.
By following Weed, they were able to spam AOE spells that caused mass destruction.
The lesser monsters were cleaned out by the undead, and the Avians willingly offered post-battle assistance.
The observing novice Avians were responsible for descending to the ground and collecting the loot.
For the mage attacks, it was impossible to assess who killed which monster. Therefore, it was decided on the method to sell all the loot at once and split the profit.
“Wow… This is miraculous.”
“Isn’t the leveling speed like 10 times faster?”
“If I followed Weed-nim since the beginning, level 600 wouldn’t be such a dream right about now.”
The mages and archers that were close to level 500 were overwhelmed with excitement.
The pace of leveling was unbelievably high, taking into account the fact that all the monsters have been scooped out by Kaybern.
Only Romuna and Pale were speechless.
‘The hunting speed is indeed quick. It will be mind-blowing. They will realize though, that speed isn’t everything.’
‘One will truly realize the potential of intense labor when observing Weed-nim firsthand.’
The hunting went on until the evening, but the mages were too overwhelmed with joy for them to complain. Nevertheless, the sun had set and stars were filling up the night sky with seemingly no end to the hunting.
“Excuse me… When are we going to take a break?”
Someone cautiously approached Weed riding on Wy-three.
“Rest on the backs of the Avians.”
“Pardon?”
“There will be a break for about 5 minutes.”
“That’s rest?”
“We will rest during transport and will fight when we arrive at the destination.”
“…!”
“Are you hungry at all?”
“Uh, yes!”
“I arranged lunch packs at the next battle location. Lively Avians are on standby as well. We can take flight right away.”
An endless, rigorous battle schedule!
They flew over the sky of Versailles Continent and put down the monsters.
The following day, Bacus’ riot in the southern desert was exposed, causing the mages and archers that were talking joyfully to shut their mouths. They realized that they had no spare energy to talk.
The monsters in Versailles Continent were being swept out on a grand scale.
The outskirt villages and small villages that have just been established were rescued from the threats of monsters.
(To be continued…)