Chapter 18
It had been about six months since Rase was released.
To some, it might have seemed like a short time, but for gamers, it was far from it.
Six months was more than enough time to dive deep into the game, explore, taste, and enjoy every aspect of it.
There were countless players who had reached the maximum level, and those who complained about the lack of fun content were already known as boring old-timers!
Even the Real Fantasy, the first virtual reality game, fell victim to the same fate.
“Ah, this game sucks. There’s no content at all.”
“All these games are trash. Well, wanna do some arena battles?”
The pace at which modern gamers consumed content was truly beyond imagination.
However, this phenomenon was an exception in Rase.
“What level do you have to be to reach the max in this game?”
“I heard the top of the level ranking is level 136… Wait, was there even a max level to begin with?”
“Hey guys, did you watch the livestream of The Sun guild raiding the Ghost Knight yesterday? They succeeded, and a new area opened up.”
“Another new area opening up? Wow, the developers really went all out.”
Content poured out like water.
Even after six months, Rase remained an unknown world to gamers worldwide.
And one of those mysteries was the ‘Epic’ grade.
“So… Legendary was definitely next after Epic, and then Mythic, right?”
It was mind-boggling.
In the current state where Legendary items were as common as dirt, suddenly encountering an Epic-grade item?
“Ha. Those crazy bastards at Rase. Hiding Epic-grade items in the beginner city?”
Cheonma sighed deeply.
Epic and Mythic grades were grades bestowed only upon elements that could have a significant impact on the game world and story.
“It’s a very rare occurrence, but Epic-grade items could potentially change the game’s story itself.”
Of course, it was an extremely rare possibility. It wouldn’t even amount to 0.01% in terms of probability.
However, placing such a high-risk item in the beginner city where all players pass through?
“That’s absolutely insane. It’s like leaving a 0.01% chance nuclear bomb in the Seoul subway.”
And what was even scarier was that the switch for that nuclear bomb could end up in the hands of casual gamers.
“You suddenly went silent. Are you perhaps hesitant to take the test? If so, there’s nothing I can do. I can’t force someone who doesn’t want it…”
“I’ll do it.”
“Huh?”
“I’ll take the test. I’ve been interested in magic since I was young.”
Enjoying close combat? Not a fan of magic?
Those were meaningless stories in front of the name ‘Epic’. Preferences that didn’t exist would naturally arise.
“What a fine young man!”
Ding.
[Acceptance of the Class Quest ‘Descendant of the Mage King (Stage 2).’”]
“Well, I suppose some explanation is necessary. Have you ever heard of the Mage King?”
Of course not.
Well, to be fair, Carpe was a newbie who had just started playing Rase today. How could he have heard of it?
If he were an ordinary player, he would have simply said ‘no’ and left it at that.
But.
“The Mage King, huh? The name rings a bell. He must have been the first emperor of the ancient Arkram Empire. Yes, the name of that empire was ‘Arkram’!”
Carpe was far from being an ordinary player. With the best strategy guide by his side, he was leagues ahead of the rest.
“My apologies. It was a slip of the tongue. To think I would hear the answer from a foreigner…”
“Huh?”
Drek’s face showed surprise. It was just a rhetorical question, but he didn’t expect to get a proper answer.
“Hehe. Even the people of the continent have forgotten the name… I never expected to hear an answer from a foreigner.”
Ding.
[The favorability of NPC Drakopf Stein towards the player has slightly increased.]
[If the favorability level of the NPC reaches a certain threshold, you can obtain special gifts or quests.]
“Feels like a god-tier game.”
“Well, maybe he’s just used to slacking off now. Let’s focus on the conversation.”
“You’re right. The Mage King was a great emperor who unified the continent 800 years ago and founded Arkram.”
Before that, the continent was truly a chaotic mess, where wars erupted daily, countless lives were lost, and the land lay desolate.
“After unifying the chaotic continent and achieving peace, everyone praised the emperor. But peace didn’t last as long as expected.”
An unexpected presence invaded the Arkram Empire.
“An invasion? Who on earth?”
“You’re familiar with them too. We were just talking about them a moment ago.”
“We were?”
What’s he talking about?
Carpe recalled their conversation but couldn’t grasp it.
Their conversation so far had only been about the Backlords and the Mage King… Wait.
“No way.”
“That’s right. The invaders were the fake gods. The beings you refer to as the Backlords.”
“Oh my.”
Carpe’s mouth fell open at the unexpected turn of events.
Who would have guessed? The very beings players had been striving to defeat, the Backlords, turned out to be invaders.
“Did you know about this too? Is that really true?”
“No, I had no idea. But it makes sense. The unclear parts from the previous episodes are starting to make sense now…”
Cheonma muttered to himself, getting lost in his own thoughts. Meanwhile, Drek continued his narrative.
“The war ended with Arkram’s defeat. Countless lives were lost, and the country was torn apart. But Arkram didn’t just sit back and take it.”
The Mage King led the final assault on the heart of the Backlords.
And he miraculously succeeded in sealing away all the Backlords in their very core!
Unfortunately, the Mage King, who had poured all his efforts into the seal, passed away not long after.
“He dedicated his life to it… but the seal wasn’t eternal.”
There was no way to permanently seal beings as powerful as the Backlords.
Hundreds of years later, the seal was slowly weakening.
“Have you heard the saying that history is written by the victors?”
“Yes, it’s famous even for us.”
“As the seal weakens, the creatures have begun to exert their power. Their influence began to invade the continent.”
Slowly, over hundreds of years, the continent fell into the hands of the Backlords.
The Backlords seduced high-ranking humans and manipulated history to their advantage.
Once invaders, they were now worshipped as gods, and the name Arkram faded into the background of history.
“They are trying to swallow the continent once again, using the ‘Immortals’ as their pawns.”
The Immortals. Or messengers of the gods.
That’s how the NPCs of Last Savior referred to the players.
Players don’t die. Even if they die, they resurrect. It’s common knowledge. Because Rase was just a game.
Though weak now, they had infinite life.
As time passed, they would become stronger, and with the help of the Backlords, they would become even stronger.
“Please help us.”
Therefore, to oppose them, Arkram had no choice but to do the same.
Beings with infinite life and the potential to become infinitely stronger.
They had no choice but to make the trustworthy Immortals their allies.
Ding.
[Class Quest ‘Descendant of the Mage King’ Stage 2]
[You have learned the ancient truth. Assist Arkram in thwarting the ambitions of the Backlords. However, before that, you must gain the trust of Arkram. To earn their trust, you need to prove your qualifications.
1. Defeat 10 players with Backlords.
2. Defeat a player with Backlords twice or more.
Quest Success: Enter the final test of ‘Descendant of the Mage King.’
Quest Failure: Mainstream deactivated. All events related to Arkram will vanish.]
“…Huh?”
“…Wait, what?”
Carpe and Cheonma exclaimed in astonishment as they checked the quest details.
“I trust you, but others from Arkram may not. To gain their trust…”
[Quest Cleared.]
“To defeat those who serve false gods… Who exactly are you?!”
Drek, who had been maintaining a polite tone, couldn’t help but raise his voice.
“Well, things just got interesting.”
• This is unbelievable. Is this even a game?
The reason the quest was cleared as soon as it was received was too obvious.
A breeze.
It was all thanks to the players Carpe had taken down to earn coins.
“Probably that guy cosplaying as a ninja was the second one. Well, it wasn’t something you’d find in a beginner’s city.”
“Come to think of it, there was one concept-chaser. But seriously, why is this difficulty level so high?”
Carpe cleared it easily, but objectively speaking, it wasn’t a quest designed to be cleared easily.
The entry condition for the quest was insane. You had to meet the Guerrilla Quest NPC without possessing a Backlord.
And after meeting that crazy condition, the next thing waiting was a PK quest.
And it required defeating users at the insane difficulty level of two or more times!
“Did they really make this to be cleared? Seriously? Are all Epic Quests like this?”
“It’s strange. Even though quests with Epics are difficult, they’re not this insane.”
But the problem was that this wasn’t the end of it. There was still the final test waiting.
“Haha. It seems like the hero to save the world has descended just as prophesied. Now, follow me.”
Suddenly, Drek, who had regained his senses, began leading Carpe somewhere.
“It seems the final test will take place in a different location.”
“It’s all useless. That genius is just wasting time. What’s the point of the test when the freeloaders will just swallow us all anyway?”
“It’s better to not even congratulate a leeching sibling than to mock.”
“Because of freeloaders like you, the world keeps getting unfair. Ah, revolution is tempting.”
How much time had passed?
Carpe and Drek arrived at a spacious area. And drawn on the floor of that space was a giant magic circle.
“Come, hero. Step onto the magic circle. I’ll explain about the final test.”
Suddenly, the title for Carpe changed to “hero.”
“Do you remember the story I told earlier? The story of Arkram’s defeat by the invaders.”
“Of course.”
“It was a long war. The invaders were formidable, but the Mage King and Arkram were powerful too.”
While the individual powers were stronger on the Backlord side, Arkram had far more numbers.
The overall power was similar. But in the end, Arkram was defeated.
“There was something decisive enough to end the fierce war.”
“Exactly. There was a traitor.”
The Mage King had the talent bestowed by the gods and a powerful spirit to support that talent.
But not all of his followers were extraordinary.
“War wears people down. As the war dragged on, there were those whose spirits broke.”
As cracks started appearing in the solid rock, the Backlords began to move in earnest.
“They started tempting us. Like devils.”
And when some of the leaders succumbed to that temptation, the balance of power shifted dramatically.
Arkram fell, and the country was torn apart.
“The Mage King learned from his defeat. He realized that those who would become his descendants needed to have a strong spirit that wouldn’t be swayed by their temptations.”
“Hmm.”
With those words, the magic circle activated.
“If you can last one minute, you’ll pass the test.”
[Ancient magic circle activated.]
[Forgotten ancient magic, Capital Vices, is triggered!]
“Please, let us succeed.”
Crack!
With a brilliant flash, the magic circle began to whirl fiercely. Simultaneously, a thunderous roar filled the chamber, as if turbines were spinning.
Watching the spectacle, Carpe swallowed hard with tension.
“This doesn’t seem right.”
-Indeed, it’s not. Capital Vices is a 9th-grade skill. And among 9th-grade skills, it’s top-tier.
“9th grade?!”
Carpe was astonished. But seriously, isn’t this level of difficulty going overboard?!
“What kind of skill is it? It’s not something like an undodgeable insta-kill skill, is it?!”
-Well, that’s…
Just as Cheonma was about to answer Carpe’s question, a storm of notification windows poured down, answering Carpe’s earlier doubts.
[Affected by ‘Pride’ status. All buff skills are canceled.]
[Affected by ‘Greed’ status. Equipment cannot be unequipped or changed.]
[Affected by ‘Envy’ status. Field of vision is severely restricted.]
[Affected by ‘Wrath’ status. Attack power increases significantly, but defense decreases dramatically.]
[Affected by ‘Charm’ status. HP decreases continuously for a certain period. Some attack skills are restricted.]
[Affected by ‘Hunger’ status. All stats decrease.]
[Affected by ‘Helplessness’ status. HP and MP decrease.]
Each one deadly in its own right, these debuff skills created a deadly symphony.
Capital Vices, its true nature revealed, was the ultimate debuff bombardment known as the ‘Seven Capital Vices’!
-Ha.
And Cheonma sighed heavily as he looked at the barrage of notification windows pouring down like a bombshell.
“I knew it would be like this. This game’s balance is all messed up. Talking about the final test and all!”
And as if anticipating Cheonma’s sigh, another set of notification windows popped up.
[Abnormal statuses detected.]
[10th-grade skill ‘Unlock’ activated.]
[All abnormal statuses are removed!]
Crash!
With a sound like shattering glass, the strongest debuff skill was completely shattered.
“What?”
Hmmmmm.
Once again, the magic circle activated. But this time, it wasn’t for the purpose of testing.
“What, what?”
All of the magic circle’s power began to shoot towards the still bewildered Carpe.
Ding!
[You have cleared the advanced class quest.]
[You have vastly exceeded the quest’s requirements. Rewards are being readjusted.]
[Hidden class ‘Heir of the Mage King’ is changed to ‘Mage Lord.’]
[Congratulations. You have successfully advanced.]
[The grade of the hidden class ‘Mage Lord’ is Myth.]
It was the moment when a mighty myth was born.
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