Infinite Realm

The Kiro mountains was a mountain range filled with precipitous rocks and a steep forest. The deeper one heads into the forest, the sparse the vegetation becomes.

Hailed to be an uncovered land filled with treasures and ores, adventurers take there time to slowly explore this mountain range. But as time went by, few adventurers frequented this place and slowly it became an almost forgotten land. However on this day, the almost discarded range was populated with warriors but this was obviously for another reason.

Beside the mountain range filled with undulating peaks was a flatland. The two colours; red and green, were smeared on the land making it look like a newly made abstract painting done by either a professional painter or a 7-year old, on a brown coloured canvas [1].

Apart from the out-of-place colouring, another prevailing feature would be the appalling stench that drifted with the brushing of the wind. The fresh smell of blood that had a slight touch of metallic components along side the bizarre and uncanny painting made a dreaded atmosphere out of the lands. But of course this would have been even more so if not for the lively gathering on this very land.

Two different races, with commendable intelligence, had just battled one another, giving claim to the statement that two tigers can't share a mountain. Of course, tons of lives were lost from both ends but they still fought for their pride nonetheless.

The last sound produced by the vocal cords a non human cried out. With that, the last non-human that existed in the battle fell to blade of it's foes.

A shout then broke out.

"Finally. We've won!!!"

[[ System notification :

Update on "The Goblins' Invasive Retribution."

The Goblins' Invasive Retribution : Mission Package

A player has just discovered the goblin hideout, Gnorka. Slay the goblins and prevent them from invading the lands.

Rewards : Based on performance.

Kill 1 goblin : Experience reward + Basic reward + 1 kill point

Kill 10 goblins : Experience rewards increase by 0.5 + 1 Silver ore(2 star) + 10 kill points

Kill 50 goblins : 5 ingots of Dawn steel(2 star) + 50 kill points

Kill 100 goblins : 1 log of Iron Pear wood(3 star). (If completed individually, the reward is as it stands. If completed by a group, apart from the experience reward, only 1 set is given to the group)[1] + 100 kill points

Kill 1 troll : Experience reward + 1 silver core(2 star) + 3 kill points

Kill 5 trolls : Experience rewards increase by 2 + 5 ingots Dawn steel + 15 kill points

Kill 10 trolls : 1 log of Iron pear wood + 10 silver coins + 30 kill points

Kill the leader : 1 Soul crystal (4-star) + 10 gold coins + 1000 kill points

Most Kills (individual) : 1 bar of Timber Crystal(3 star), 2 ingots of Star Gold(3 star), 5 silver coins, 1 level up, Relationship level with human forces becomes [Honoured], title [Humanity's Friend].[2]

Most Kills (group) : 1 ingot of Star Gold, 5 silver coins, 1 level up, Relationship level with human forces becomes [Honoured], title [Great Helper].[3]

Basic reward : 2 ingots of Limber steel , 5 Dark pearls, 3 silver coins, 50% increase in experience.

Failure Penalty : Destruction of the nearest Town

Loss of 2 levels with reduction of experience gained by 30% for 2 weeks

Relationship level with human forces at [Dislike]

The mission has been completed. ]]

"Finally done with that shitty mission."

"Haa. This mission was stressful but the experience was worth it."

"I know right. If there was loot from the monsters then this would have been way much better."

"Yo. Be satisfied with what you have got."

"Alright alright."

The players all rejoiced after the battle was won. An army of at least 800 goblins, had lost their lives on this land, with the only reminder of their existence being the blood and flesh scattered all around the ground.

Such a sight would be appalling, of course, for some players. As such, most of these players had deactivated the blood-and-gore function in the game leaving only little blood stains on the floor to remind them of the substantial battle than had just gone by. Some of these players, especially those who saw themselves as real men who had seen the world, left this feature intact with the view of dead bodies all over and the revolting smell of goblin blood swimming through the air.

Different conversations went on, with the most centered one being about the level 10 changes. It had been realised on the forum's bulletin board that players would be able to go to cities at level 10. This of course, drew the attention of a lot of players and worked as a form of motivation for them to level up faster after all, it was likely that the first to do so would complete a milestone agenda and reap some hidden rewards.

"With this experience, we are much closer to level 10. I heard there will be changes and we could finally go to cities?"

"Yeah. More players would be placed together and it will be quite tougher to get resource than it is now." One player sighed.

"Hehe. I don't care about that. I'm a leisure player. It's you pros who will be bothered."

"I wonder who the top rankers in this event are."

"Hehe. I heard that the super guild, Emperor's Might, participated so they are most likely to win it plus they were also involved in slaying the mini boss. If anything, they should have been the main force."

"Yes."

"That's true."

-------

As different conversations went on, the 2 campaign leaders arrived from the mountain peak to reunite with the army after fixing their appearances. Deval was taken elsewhere because he had fainted due to exhaustion. He was currently being treated and recovering his energy.

"My Lord. His Eminence."

Lord Midel bowed towards Town head Arman before greeting Bishop Enzo who was right beside him.

"Casualty reports."

"Yes My Lord. Of the 300 men from our side who participated in the war, 162 were killed in action with at least 20 men having serious injuries, denying the any chance of making a comeback to the force. The other 100 people are a force to remember. I don't think any one would outrightly deny your words, Lord."

"True. Go ahead and solve everything and be quick about it. I might as well solve the issue of the people." Arman smiled.

Under the gazes of everyone present, Arman, who still looked like a 9 year old, arrived close to the players; a few feet from where the gathered. While floating about 7-10 metres in the air, he opened his lips and spoke.

"Today, I have to say that I'm pleased with put achievements as we finally drove the foreign race away from our area. Alongside the members of the Church, we stood firm and supported one another. On that account, I have to say thank you to everybody involved in this skirmish.

"For those with startling performances and so on, the Town is pleased to offer you a few rewards as a way of showing our goodwill. With that said, I say 'Thank you' to those who helped us so far."

With the end of the Arman's speech, the players all received a notification.

[[ System notification :

The Goblins' Invasive Retribution : 1st package has been concluded.

Rewarding players…

Most Kills (Group) :

East Crow 103 points

Emperor's Might 86 points

Mountain Rift 78 points

Team Matrix 39 points

. . .

---------------

Top Rankers :

Most Kills (Individual) :

***** 62 points ----

Chesces 57 points Emperor's Might

***** 55 points ----

Griffin 51 points Emperor's Might

Snow Goddess 29 points Emperor's Might

Swift Blade 28 points East Crow

Kylian 28 points Emperor's Might

One Sword 28 points Mountain Rift

Dream Tiger 27 points East Crow

Lu Zhen 21 points ----

. . .

]]

"A bunch of guilds really made their appearance today huh?"

"It's too bad though. I heard Emperor's Might also participated so I'm pretty sure they should have taken the 1st place position."

"No, it actually didn't go them. They took second place; first place is East Crow."

"East Crow? Oh yeah I remember. Most of Emperor's Might experts headed over to look for the mini boss. I think they all went for the singles section. Daichi lead the East Crow legion so its pretty reasonable for them to take 1st place. Emperor's Might should be first in the singles however."

"No wait. Hold on, the first position in the singles category didn't actually go to Emperor's Might nor East Crow..."

"What the heck? Stop playing around!"

"No! He's telling the truth."

"Huh…Now that you say, 1st place is…unknown?"

Initially after the list was released, everyone's focus was on the group category but they weren't really expecting much . If there was one shocking factor, it would have been the fact that East Crow played the role of a dark horse by snatching the 1st position in the group category from Emperor's Might. Upon further enquiries, the players understood the reason why and didn't find it hard to accept. After all, Daichi was a talent even super guilds had wanted to recruit before.

It was as they focused on the singles department that their eyes went wide like saucers, stunned speechless with nothing to say. The players found it had to believe that an unknown player had taken the first place spot. Even if the Sly devil, Chesces, had taken the second position, it still didn't change the fact that this mysterious number one figure had surpassed all the players to get the most single kills.

"Damn. All those big guilds must be really frustrated eh?"

"if my guess is correct then this mysterious figure should likely be the same person that participated in the mini boss raid."

"That's a reasonable conclusion but damn, Emperor's Might is still truly amazing! They occupied 4 spots in the singles division and still managed to get 2nd place in the group."

"Indeed. Truly worthy of being called a super guild. East Crow even, made an impressive performance snatching not only the 1st place in the group category but also 2 spots in the singles Top 10. "

"Worthy of being a peak 2nd tier guild. This is like a contest between a local snake and an overbearing Dragon."

"But you guys are missing the big deal here. It's possible that this mysterious expert is a solo player hence the reason he hid his identity. In other words he might be a new expert or even worse, they[3] are actually threatening the hegemony of the guilds!!!"

Originally, it was supposed to be a simple issue of just being awe-struck and fascinated at this mysterious dark horse, but as someone made a wild conjecture, some of the players analysed it to be quite reasonable. And so the legend of a solo player on the rise, challenging the authority of the big guilds and seeking to take all the rewards away from their grasp, began to spread.

Meanwhile the person in question had quietly exited a tunnel and appeared at the back-lines of the forces.

AN :

[1] No hard feelings to painter. Probably cause I don't understand art but a bunch of modern day abstract paintings look messy and childish... sorry if you got offended.

[2] Once they record under the Individual category, their scores aren't tabulated in the group category and vice versa. For example, even though Kylian, Griffin and Chesces were part of a party, they registered their kills under individual section so all their kill points gained would be calculated under the individual section and not the group section.

[3] Using 'they ' here because the identity of the 'mysterious expert' is unknown to the players.