Chapter 46: There’s Someone Stronger Than a Ranker Despite Only Studying?! (2)
Brrr! Brrrrr!
The crystal ball was shaking violently.
“Um, is it okay to leave the crystal ball like this? I think it’s going to explode.”
It was a dangerous situation for anyone to see.
Kyung-joon also seemed to feel it and asked the inspector.
“Of course not! We have to stop this right now! The spell to chant at a time like this is…… It’s definitely that spell……”
The inspector struggled to recall the spell.
“Argh! I can’t remember what it was……!”
There was definitely a spell he had to chant when someone with a stat level over 300 appeared.
Otherwise, the crystal ball would explode.
A sharp crystal bomb.
Surely, not only himself, but also the people around him would be seriously injured.
The inspector tried to recall the spell, but the more he did, the more his mind went blank.
‘What should I do, what should I do, what should I do?!’
Crack, crackle!
The crystal ball began to crack even more severely than before.
Eventually, the inspector made a decision.
“E, Everyone, get out of here! Explosion! There’s going to be an explosion!”
“What? Explosion?”
“H, Hey! That!”
“Gasp! What’s that light?!”
“I don’t know! Just get away, it looks dangerous!”
“Oh, crap! What the hell is going on?!”
“Aaaaaaaaagh!”
The surroundings turned into chaos in an instant.
People ran back to avoid the cracking crystal ball.
And so, a suddenly empty space was created.
In the middle of it, Kyung-joon stood alone.
“You there! What are you doing without running away?! Get away from the crystal ball!”
The inspector shouted urgently.
Despite that, Kyung-joon didn’t move or take his hand off the crystal ball.
Rather, he was closing his eyes and ears, concentrating.
Kyung-joon opened his mouth with his eyes closed.
“Isn’t this a mana resonance phenomenon? It feels so similar to the mana resonance phenomenon of quartz, right?”
To a third party, Kyung-joon seemed to be talking to himself.
But it wasn’t like that for Kyung-joon.
Because Teemo was always by his side.
“What do you think, Teemo?”
<It’s true that other materials are mixed in, but the basic base is made of quartz.>
“Really? Then if we can just get it out of the resonant frequency, it’ll be quiet.”
Jing.
Kyung-joon poured mana into the crystal ball.
The task was simple.
To calm the mana that was frantically resonating inside the crystal ball.
To be precise, he had to directly control each and every mana particle in the crystal ball to get out of the resonant frequency.
Then the mana resonance phenomenon of the crystal ball would stop, and it would be possible to prevent it from exploding.
Kyung-joon was capable of doing that.
‘It’s a hundred times easier than making an Energy Tower.’
[Rare Skill 『Fine Mana Manipulation (Lv.4)』 ]
Sizzle.
A few seconds had passed since Kyung-joon put his mana into the crystal ball.
The crystal ball, which seemed like it would explode at any moment, had returned to its original transparent state.
The light had already subsided.
Crack!
The crystal ball cracked, but it didn’t explode.
“Ah……”
“Huh?”
“Um……?”
Where did the chaotic surroundings go? Only a deep silence fell around them.
At this time, it was neither the surrounding people, nor the inspector, nor Kyung-joon who broke the silence first.
[The level of the Rare Skill 『Fine Mana Manipulation』 has increased to 5.]
Ding! Along with the sound, a status window popped up saying that the skill level had increased.
After confirming it, Kyung-joon coughed lightly and said nonchalantly.
“The inspection is over, so I can go in now, right?”
🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷
Of course, Kyung-joon couldn’t enter Plovdiv right away.
If the stat level exceeded 300, it was the inspection principle to be investigated separately.
Of course, he wasn’t interrogated at the checkpoint.
It was rather the opposite.
“Thank you very much for preventing our employee’s mistake. The Plovdiv Central Government Office will compensate you directly for this mistake.”
A staff member dispatched from the Plovdiv Central Government Office bowed his head to Kyung-joon.
And then he flicked the inspector on the head.
“Ouch!”
“Oh, you idiot! You too, bow your head!”
“Thank you! And I’m sorry!”
“We will make sure that this never happens again. First of all, please accept this urgently.”
[Plovdiv Temporary ID (Premium)]
▶A premium ID that can be used for approximately 30 days from the date of issue. You can use various facilities in Plovdiv. Access to premium grade is available.
※General Grade Facility List: Central Government Office, District Security Forces, Adventurer’s Guild, and other areas designated as general grade.
※Premium Grade Facility List: Some libraries, District Medical Centers, and other areas designated as premium grade.
▶You can start from the premium grade when you receive a regular ID.
▶Item Grade: Premium
Plovdiv had restrictions on the facilities that could be used depending on the grade of the ID card.
The higher the grade, the more additional benefits were attached.
There were various benefits such as getting a discount when buying items in Plovdiv, or getting a tax cut when selling items.
By the way, the way to raise the grade was simple.
Just buy and sell a lot of things in Plovdiv.
Or you could just buy the grade with money.
‘……It’s just like the VIP system.’
A VIP system commonly found in mobile games.
It was a typical rich-get-richer system where the more you paid, the more benefits you got.
For a fantasy world, Plovdiv smelled too much like capitalism.
It was a completely capitalist dystopian city.
It was only natural since it wasn’t ruled by a king or a lord, but was run by an alliance of several guilds.
Kyung-joon, who had finished all the inspection procedures and entered Plovdiv, immediately headed somewhere.
“This must be Player Street.”
Kyung-joon saw a huge sign that read 『Player Street!』 above.
As the name suggests, this street was built by players.
Perhaps because of that, it had a rather unique atmosphere, different from the fantasy medieval feel.
“Warrior bro and Priest sis! It looks like this is your first time on Player Street? Try our specialty, Ogre Kimchi Duru Chili! I’ll show you the spicy taste of Korea!”
“You Chinese people, come to ‘Yearning for Hometown’ right now. We’ve recreated Dongguatang, Hot Pot, Mala Xiang Guo, and Xiaolongbao. Don’t worry, we didn’t use goblin meat.”
“We operate Fantasia Izakaya, tailored to the taste of World residents. Security guards who are working hard day and night, if you want a strong drink at night, please stop by.”
“Assalamu alaikum! Our Muslim brothers who always die from lack of satiety because there is no halal food! Come to Alibaba Treasure! Wa alaikum assalam!”
The unique atmosphere of Player Street, which cannot be seen in other streets of Plovdiv.
It felt fantastic yet realistic, very welcoming and new.
“Korean, Chinese, Japanese, Middle Eastern, Western…… they’re all gathered here. World is truly a global game.”
It was a moment when the prestige of the Seolha Group, which developed World, grew even greater.
<But the entrance to the street is full of restaurants. It seems like they’ve put all the grocery stores, workshops, and blacksmiths inside.>
As Teemo said, there were only restaurants at the entrance of Player Street.
Mysterious outdoor cooking was also being presented here and there.
Perhaps because of that, all sorts of food scents wafted from all over the place.
Bungeoppang, Tteokbokki, Fishcake, Takoyaki, Corn Dogs, and so on.
It may have been a familiar food to the players, but the NPCs were looking at it with very curious eyes.
Seeing that, Kyung-joon said to Teemo.
“It’s all to attract people’s attention. It wouldn’t be special if they were selling weapons and equipment from the start, right? Besides, there are plenty of those elsewhere. Look at that. The way they cook is no joke. There’s nothing like food to attract people’s attention.”
Kyung-joon smacked his lips and continued speaking.
“The residents of World call us players ‘Otherworlders’, right? That’s exactly right. We’re truly beings from another world to NPCs.”
NPCs who were born and lived in the game world of World, not the Earth of reality.
To them, players were like aliens.
“So, they must be unfamiliar and sometimes wary of us, right? There’s nothing like food to break down this barrier. Originally, when targeting completely new consumers, the strategy is to start with clothing, food, and shelter. Especially, food is the most important.”
<I didn’t know there was such a deep meaning. Excellent analysis, Master.>
Kyung-joon’s analysis was surprisingly accurate.
In fact, the World’s Best Guild, which had the biggest stake in the design of Player Street, thought the same way as Kyung-joon.
━If we all want to succeed, we can’t just attract players, we have to attract the residents of World to the streets. Food is the best way to start this. The items we make are still far behind theirs, but if it’s real food that only we know, we can find an opportunity.
Afterward, they agreed to fill the entrance of Player Street with only restaurants, and that’s how the current Player Street was born.
Of course, Kyung-joon had no idea about this fact and only guessed based on the results he saw in front of him.
“Wow, this street is really crazy. The food smells amazing.”
After finishing the explanation he was immersed in, the smell of food, which he had been trying to ignore, stimulated Kyung-joon’s nose and tongue.
Korean, Chinese, Japanese, Western, Arabic food……
All kinds of food smells wafted from all over the place.
It felt like all the food alleys in the world had been brought together and combined.
You wouldn’t be able to have this kind of experience even if you traveled all over the world.
“It’s fun just looking around. It’s energizing. Is this also healing?”
It wasn’t bad to have this kind of experience occasionally after studying all the time for months.
It felt like the energy that had been depleted from studying was being recharged as vitality circulated throughout his body.
This is why people go on trips, he thought.
“Okay. I should come back here after I’m done with what I originally planned to do. Let’s eat till we’re full then.”
Kyung-joon thought it wouldn’t be bad to enjoy sightseeing here for a while.
People can’t just study all the time.
Sometimes you have to take a proper break.
<That’s a good idea. You’ve been studying too much, so you should take a break like this sometimes.>
“Yeah. So let’s hurry up and go. Where did you say the World’s Best Guild was?”
He had to go to the World’s Best Guild and get the Fire Shard or the Light Shard.
That’s why he came to Plovdiv.
<If you go straight ahead, you’ll find it.>
“Okay! Let’s go!”
And so, Kyung-joon moved his steps.
Toward where the World’s Best Guild Plovdiv headquarters was located.
🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷
At the entrance of Player Street, in the food alley, a male player stood still.
▼TheWorld’sGreatestMerchant (Player)
“Phew, it’s finally been a year.”
TheWorld’sGreatestMerchant, the guild master of the World’s Best Guild and the No. 1 Merchant Ranker, muttered quietly.
He was practically the father of Player Street.
“You’ve come a long way.”
After TheWorld’sGreatestMerchant first came up with the idea for Player Street, there were many big and small events.
There were many conflicts between the players who were collaborators, and confrontations with NPCs were not uncommon.
In particular, the interference from the NPC guilds that already had a strong hold on Plovdiv was enormous.
There were also many players who sided with them and interfered with TheWorld’sGreatestMerchant.
‘Even excluding that, there were tons of problems.’
In the first place, the very idea of a player-only street was met with a lot of opposition from local residents.
『Otherworlders are trying to settle down in our Plovdiv without permission!』
『We’re already having a hard time because of the slums, and you’re saying there will be more of them in the city? Absolutely not!』
It felt a bit like the reaction when it was said that a Chinatown would be created in Korea.
Just as we don’t really welcome the existence of Chinatown, the people of Plovdiv didn’t welcome the creation of Player Street.
‘It was really hard to solve this.’
Here, TheWorld’sGreatestMerchant came up with an ingenious method.
A stroke of genius that could win the support of both local residents and the Plovdiv Central Government Office.
‘Thinking about it now, it was a crazy idea……’
TheWorld’sGreatestMerchant closed his eyes and fell into reminiscence, recalling what had happened a year ago.
No, he was about to.
The reminiscence was interrupted by the voice of a man coming from behind.
“Why are there only restaurants at the entrance? It’s all to attract people’s attention. It wouldn’t be special if they were selling weapons and equipment from the start, right?”
TheWorld’sGreatestMerchant’s eyes widened for a moment.
‘Oh? He’s having this kind of conversation?’
TheWorld’sGreatestMerchant started to listen to the man’s conversation.
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