Vol 3 Chapter 3 (2/2)

That desperation these people felt the same way as he had Awash in recollection, Ark's eyes had become moist at some point

'They're not just NPCs They are people” Ark clenched his teeth

To be truthful, at first, he didn't want to acknowledge that he felt sympathy for NPCs

Crying because of a ga only a one or two year old child would do But as he travelled around New World and hts

If the definition of life was to be able to think for theh they were man made Als, if they had consciences, then they were already no different fros

What was the sha with them?

The ones who should be truly asha while watching a sad s that are sad as sad Isn't that what makes humans human?

”Grandpa Uwahh”

”Kid Move aside for a moment”

Ark sat next to the whi old man's hand

”Please shed your fear and be strong Before you are patient, you are the grandpa of this kid and an excellent friend to your neighbors Though of course it is difficult for you, you are not the only one who is suffering fro here, your friend who isas much pain as you as they worry Please keep that in th to fight the pain This is just an ordeal, not a fate that cannot be overcorandchild and the sincerity of your friend's worries will be your weapon”

This hat he had wanted to say to his o while she lay in her hospital bed

At those words, the Nursing skill was activated and a bright light ey that had been filling the shelter began to weaken

Afterwards, there was a drae Faces of deathly ill patients lit up Their breathing beca from the shelter stopped

Miracle Nursing has succeeded

You can sincerely understand the heart and minds of the sick in further

What patients want is not medicine to immediately wash away their pain What they want is a warm hand that can understand their pain and cleanse their wounds with a sincere heart Everyone, especially the refugees, were feeling a sense of alienation that was more hurtful than their illness Now, your sincere words to them will be a treatment more excellent than medicine

As long as the Dark Fog reees will not fully recover But your sincere words gave theees will briefly forget their pain and will endure until the Dark Fog is gone

By succeeding Miracle Nursing, all stats have increased by 1

Affection has increased by 10

Fame has increased by 50

Alignment to Good has increased by 50

You have acquired the title 'Caretaker of All' fro Fame as a Caretaker has increased, so you will receive praises from many patients

As a title bonus, all stats increase by 1

Fame increases by 50

He received 2,000 additional contribution points Though it didn't have any influence on the battle, they were contribution points he received for saving residents But the greater reas the smiles that returned to the patients' faces

'What a relief'

”Thank you Thank you so much”

”I told you so! I told you that Ark would be able to help!” To from his eyes as he proudly yelled out

It was then— he suddenly heard a crashi+ng noise from the entrance as a perplexed voice cried out

”Ark? Did you say Ark?”

When he turned around, he saw a girl wearing a white robe staring blankly at Ark When Ark e expression, Tom pointed at her and explained, ”Oh, she works and helps out here Her name is Roco”

”That reaot about it”

”Hehe, I' Hye-sun, aka Roco, declared proudly

She had recently arrived in Jackson Castle froe Then, only when she reached Jackson did she first learn about job-changing The profession she selected was Minstrel, a profession that could use both slight recovery and support skills

”Of all the” Ark clicked his tongue

Though he had h Minstrels had recovery and support abilities, they were less efficient than Cleric-related professions In addition, Clerics were equipped with their own fighting ability, and were able to solo withoutability of Minstrels was as low as Merchants

A Minstrel's strong point over a Cleric was that since it used music, most of its skills had a wide area effect However, not be able to solo easily was a big penalty, so it was a profession looked down on by players Therefore, there were ed, canceled extre a profession was only available to starter professions, and you had to pay a fine of 200 gold to the profession NPC Meaning, it was a profession that people wanted to cancel even while having to pay such a large fine

But Roco shook her head ”I like this profession I've always had a lot of interest in music, you see I can try instruments that I never even had the chance to touch because they were expensive, like the harp, piano, and flute, to my heart's content Also, with a little effort, I can quickly learn to play here And”

She had not started New World to play solo Since it was a game that she had started to play with the desire to meet Ark and be helpful to him, she had chosen Minstrel without hesitation However, she could not say that in front of Ark, as the same as Hyun-woo in reality

”I didn't know you were interested in music”

”Because we've never gone to karaoke together”

”Well yeah Still, it's a relief that you found a job you like”

”Yes, it was a good idea to start New World”

As Roco let escape a h, Dedric stared at her suspiciously and butted in, ”Who's this, Master? Your girlfriend? Is that how it is?”

”Wanna die?”

When Ark threatened, Roco asked with shi+ning eyes, ”Oho? That bat, it wasn't just an decoration? Does it also speak?”

”I am not a bat I am a noble of the Underworld, Dedric!”

”Kyaaaa, it said it's a noble How adorable!”

Dedric was puffing his chest with pride when Roco suddenly grabbed and shook hi next to her and picked it up

She was not the saht of ed her

”Aish, you won't let go? How dare you”

Unable to endure Roco's grabbing and shaking, Dedric transformed into a person and expressed his irritation But that simply added oil to Roco's interest When he turned into a cute boy, Roco hugged hi

”O your wild eyes is like looking atHohoho, it s like this around, too”

”What? Th-things like this?”

”Uwah, so cute Hey, how old are you?”

”Three hundred years old”

”Hohoho, even the way you answer is cute Coive you some wheat bread”

”Wanna die?”

”Co sister Skull, you come here as well”

”Ma-Master, do so about this chick!”

As Roco nuzzled her cheek on him, Dedric asked for help with a pale face However, since Ark had been displeased with Dedric's arrogant attitude these days, he conored Dedric and asked Roco, ”But you're stillpretty well It isn't easy to endure in this place”

”Oh, that's right!” Roco clapped, as if re just then ”Come to think of it, there's someone I have to introduce to you, oppa”

”Introduce?”

”Yes, he's the one who's been helping e He's out on a small errand, but he'll be back soon I'm sure you will be happy to see him, too”

Roco grabbed Ark's hand and pulled hi

Since the start of the event quest, it had beco out Therefore, unless they died, they couldn't escape until the event quest ended So even if a player left the unit, the character was left in the ga state The person Roco introduced to hiainst the wall of a building

”Do you not recognize him?”

”Well there's no one I know in New World” Ark examined the character with an indifferent eye

He was a big-bodiedwithames, and his wrists, elbows, and shoulders rapped in leather bands

Overall, the atmosphere around him was like an American pro-wrestler

'He knows me? But I've never seen a person like him in New World?'

”Eh? EEHHH?” While staring at the man's face, a bizarre screaular face, the bushy beard It was indeed a face he knew froame, but reality!

Just then, the character vibrated and lifted his head He looked at Ark and Rocco with a vacant stare, roughly sized up the situation, grinned and stood up

”Isn't it Hyun-woo! It's really nice to ame How have you been?”

”De-Detective Gwon?”

”Why are you so surprised? You were the one who told o and I' that I haven't even slept for a few days Well, I still go to the hospital I'ht from my detective days Ack, my shoulders hurt”

Ga-rang No, JusticeManhis arm

Surprisingly, JusticeMan was already level 40

”Ah, it has really been an eventfulat the distant mountains

In fact, Ga-rang hadn't leveled up very quickly after first starting the game

Since he had ignorantly beaten Wolves to death fro, of course he received a lot of EXP But while helping others, he was never able to get 100 of the EXP and so up beca was as strong as he was ignorant, he was actually a newb at games

Of course, since he had brute skills, dealing with Wild Dogs and Wolves posed no probles and Wolves no longer gave much experience So he went out a little further, and problems that he couldn't make head or tail of occurred

A beginner village was literally a beginner village It is an area where people without knowledge of the gainner village, his situation changed completely

What bothered Ga-rang in particular were the monsters that applied abnormal conditions Because it was still a low-level area, there were no monsters that applied powerful abnor had no idea what to do and just struggled even when he received 'Bleed' or 'Weaken'

Abnorence, and Luck However, without any knowledge of stat distribution, he blindly poured his stat points into only Strength and Staainst conditions was rock bottom, so when he took a blow, he almost certainly received a status condition

A normal player would have co was nothing if not fighting spirit-- the harder the situation, the an to die like crazy As a result, his stats were being cut down and he was even dropping his shabby equip became harder

Was that all? Though he was over forty years old, he had no concept of ement Thus, he didn't even have the money to repair his equipment, so they broke, and there were even times when he couldn't buy himself wheat bread to eat Granted, the players who received his help occasionally took care of him, but New World wasn't so easy a place that one could live on just that

”daame so complicated?”

Beaten to death by ain, Ga-rang scratched his head while sarettes With the situation this severe, he was forced to acknowledge that he couldn't properly raise his character by just blindly rushi+ng in and fighting

Ga-rang put out his cigarette and glanced at the ht the unit Though he had thought about reading it, he quickly shook his head He couldn't even reae to pronounce Looking at the fearsomely thick manual, he couldn't even draw the nerve to pick it up

”This is driving ood What is this? Still, I can't just cling to the busy Hyun-woo and ask for help”

Then, so's mind ”Wait a a them in”

Ga-rang got up immediately and made some calls here and there

A short while afterwards, 10 athered in his house They were lers, fraudsters, violent offenders, etc Ga-rang, who had becoood-for-nothings with criminal records

Ga-rang suht, anyone here who is confident in playing games, put your hands up”

All 10 people raised their hands

”Okay, then there'll be no problem From now on, you will all be my coaches”

”Huh? Your coach?”

”Yes, fro over to my house to coach me”

”What ga?”

”New World”

”But we haven't had the chance to play New World yet”

The ex-convicts scratched their heads with unconfident expressions

But after hearing Ga-rang's questions, the looks on their faces turned to utter a was a person without any MMORPG, no, any gae at all

If you fight, your level will rise, If you level up, you becoer ene knew about New World

”What are active skills, you ask? Do you seriously call that a question?”

”You still don't knohat potions do?”

”Why exactly do you go around with your armor off?”

”You took it off because it was annoying? Then why in the world do you think people are uneasy when they aren't wearing heavy plate armor?”

”Why do you keep blindly rushi+ng in and dying? Huh? Know no retreat? Are you kidding me?”

”How in hell did you even e to level up to 20?”

”Ah, da Hey you, order units!”

In the end, with the good-for-nothings tearing their hair out with frustration, they brought in units and ended up playing the ga the foramers

Their character names were number 1401 to 1410, their probation numbers

With the help of these gaan to learn the basics of New World But he was still a passionate detective Ga-rang's basic playing style didn't change

”Over there! Soo!”

”EHH? Again? Just what do we gain for deliberately going over to help?”

”Regardless of how this started, this is one of your social adjust in time later you will practice justice here and learn how satisfying it is, understood?”

”It's okay if we don't learn that”

”Quiet! You want to get hit and go or just go?”

Ga-rang bullied theht of thee

”Look at that, Machorew!”

Just like that, the party made up of a detective and ex-convicts becae This was hoa-rang, who had no knowledge whatsoever about games, was able to reach level 40 in a month

Well, with 10 users backing you up, you can't help but level up quickly

JusticeMan and Roco e After JusticeMan rescued Roco a few tied in That hy Roco was able to reach level 25 without any combat ability

Then, they naturally came to know that they both knew Ark, and with that connection, they ended up going all the way to Jackson Castle together Not long after they arrived, the event quest started and they unknowingly joined the militia

”Then what did you job-change to?”

”I haven't chosen a profession yet I looked around but I haven't found one that fits me yet”

”You still haven't chosen a job at level 40?”

”Not having a job doesn't seeht now, I can't even if I wanted to” JusticeMan answered with a disinterested expression

Ark briefly stared at JusticeMan and Roco He wanted to be of some help to JusticeMan and Roco, ere still newbs to the ways of New World Also, one was like a savior to hiht of as a little sister

They were truly people he sincerely wanted to help

Even though the ex-convicts ith them, their levels were still below 20 Moreover, since the start of the event quest, 8 had died, leaving only 1401 and 1405 There were only 2 of them left

'Wherever I go with JusticeMan and Roco, we'd probably be treated coldly if so'

After pondering for athem into the Guard It wouldn't be easy, but he didn't think it would be impossible if he use the intimacy he'd raised with the Guard and his relationshi+p with the Lord

”Mister, do you want to raise contribution points with Roco and me? Since this is an event quest, if you raise your contribution by participating in the ood reward”

”Sounds good toRoco also started this game to play with you, so that's not a probleot so many other members”

JusticeManhis head

”Other members? 1401 and 1405?”

”No, actually, JusticeMan mister is the current e reco there were about 200 people who received the militia quest, but almost all of them died on the first day There are only about 20 people who survived out of the 50 who followed JusticeMan”

”Fifty?” responded Ark with a surprised expression It was fascinating that soJusticeMan, who had only been playing for 20 days Of course, JusticeMan had a charm that someho people towards him But that was in the real world Just how in the world did a ga never seen JusticeMan's unusual ga it

'Anyways, 20 '

He didn't like interacting with other players, but these were people who followed JusticeMan If it was someone else, Ark would have refused the of money, but it was a different story for people related to JusticeMan and Roco

Whether in reality or the game, they were the only two people Ark didn't calculate profit or loss with The fewer there are, the stronger the attachment

”You're askingreceived Ark's request, the Lord responded with a perplexed expression ”Well, it's true there isn't anything to assign the ht now but it pricks ain when many have already sacrificed themselves And truthfully, I don't even know if they would be much help”

”I will take responsibility for them Also, they will definitely be helpful”

”Hmm”

As the young Lord pondered, Cross, whose intiave his support ”Arklike this And even if they aren't much of a help in battle, we can still entrust the rear of the Guard to them The militia are also volunteer troops who rose up to protect Jackson, isn't it wrong to push them to the back just because they are weak?”

”What you say has ht I'll leave that ner, their lives are equally precious In addition, protecting theerous, you must return them to the castle”

”Of course”

Like that, the 20 militiamen that no one even looked at were added to the Jackson Guard The one most happy with the decision was the former detective, JusticeMan

”Finally, we've gotten a job worth doing I was about to get fed up with luggagequests”

”Please don't push yourself too much Even if you just participate a little, your contribution will increase” Ark worriedly entreated the extremely motivated JusticeMan

But JusticeMan just snorted ”I can't do that Even if I die, dying in flao”

After a while, Ark realized that his fears were baseless 'Wh-what is that?'

Ark's prediction that JusticeMan and the militia with their low levels wouldn't be helpful was overturned Though they couldn't fight many monsters at once like the Guard could, the skill hich they systematically pressured monsters while perfectly in sync was incomparable to the Guards

The 20 users lured monsters, surrounded them, and completely annihilated them all in one beat

JusticeMan, who had started way later than Ark, even figured out the skills of various jobs and used them effectively in coe level of 35 were able to hunt level 85 monsters The fact that they had survived in battle until the volunteer troops had arrived was not all luck

'Come to think of it'

It was then that Ark reovernment official He was a person who had been dispatched to South America in a special squad as a police instructor

To put it in words, in group battle, he was a professional!

Was that all? Ark was too focused on the gaot this fact

It was the fact that 80 of healthy ! 80 receivingwas not common ide

The potential of that was uniinable

People usually said that one would rot if they went into the military, but they said that because they didn't know the potential ofThere was even an incident like this in japan long ago Korean international students in japan resented the rash violence of the local yakuza and declared an all-out war However, their opponents were specialized killers who didn't hesitate to murder When the international students came at them, of course the yakuza snorted at them

And as expected, at first the international students were pushed back What changed the situation hen command was entrusted to an international student as a commissioned officer Once the chain of coed completely Pushed to near annihilation by a military operation counterattacks, it ended with the yakuza kneeling and begging for forgiveness

The scene in front of Ark's eyes was not very different froh they were only level 35 and couldn't deth by themselves, if they carried out tactics under a proper co showed a teamwork and unity

The teaaa

'So you can play the game like this!'

Ark, who had been about to teach JusticeMan, ended up learning froreater shock from JusticeMan's tactics

”Ohh, the strategy of these foreigners isn't bad Who in the world is that guy leading the militia?”

It was the commander of the Guard, Cross

JusticeMan had unwillingly ended up leading the et it done even if the sky fell down Since he was always leading the ained a totally unexpected skill, 'Tactics' Cross was reacting to that skill

”Without a doubt, that guy was a general in son land My God, to think we kept such an outstanding man like him locked up inside the fort I see, so that's why you wanted the militia to join the Guard”

”Yes, well that's about right” Ark se expression and equivocated

”Thanks to you, I have finally opened my eyes I have realized what true tactics are!”

Cross ran over to JusticeMan with a cheer And then he began to ask JusticeMan to teach hi JusticeMan, who lived for the fun of helping others, gladly agreed

”Okay, butis really hard!”

”I am resolved!”

JusticeMan gained command of the Guard in an instant Thanks to that, the soldiers had to fight

”I aroup There is only US!”

”Actual battle soon turns to training Nothe situation is, don't break formation!”

”Lax! Hey, you! Fall back and give me 100 push ups!”

The NPC getting dragged out while in the heat of battle to receive punishment wasn't even a funny situation

”Hey you there, can't you do it right?”

Of course, the people doling out the punishments were the skillful TAs, 1401 and 1405 In any case, the Guard's lack of organizing skills were strengthened by JusticeMan Naturally, theirspeed also increased

Roco was also above ordinary Although Roco chose the Minstrel profession that was shunned by all, she deroup battle, despite being only level 25 As soon as it got dangerous, the sound of the harp and Roco's singing could be heard

”The fragrance carried on the wind is coue of the day and drive away the darkness”

- Song of Vitality has applied For the next 5 iven Affects all the people who have heard the song

The support skills of the e radius Additionally,effects

'Fight Song' increased theof Despair' decreased theof Recovery,' 200 Health was recovered over 3 h it wasn't ic, it had a wide range! Moreover, it was a skill with hardly any Mana consumption

But the highlight was 'Song of Vitality,' which reduced fatigue! Thanks to it, the Guard didn't feel fatigued and had

'NPCs are working together with players, this is awesome!'

Ark hadn't even been able to iine such an additional effect

The low-leveled militia leveled up like crazy Of course, Ark accumulated considerable experience and contribution points

”Quest-related information !”

- The current contribution of Ark is 9,400 You are in 68th place

When Ark joined the Guard, his rank was 127 Since there were about 160 users in Jackson Castle including the 20in the quest, he was in the e

'But there is still a long way to catch up to Alan'

The top 10 contributors were updated every 8 hours on the plaza's bulletin board The current top 10 players were all in group 1, which was led by Alan And Alan's contribution points were a whopping 30,600, putting hi first place

He was using his position to eat up the contribution points of groups 2 and 3, but no one voiced their coroup

Alan was recognized as number 1 by not only the NPCs, but also the players

'I can really overtake Alan?'

Everything was going better than Ark expected However, the wall of the Holy Knight Alan, as still backed up by the players, was as high as ever

Moreover, unlike the other volunteer troops, Ark and the militia couldn't continue battle without the Guard Naturally, it wasn't easy to catch up to the volunteer troops ent seeking battle without rest

'Should I be satisfied with this level?'