The Legendary Moonlight Sculptor

?Volume 50 Chapter 3 — Changes in the Garnav Plain

Rhodium, the city of artists!

It was a place normally filled with sorrow and despair, for its residents bemoaned their poor choice of profession day and night. However, the news of giant sculptures being built in the Garnav Plain reached their ears as well.

“Our skills can be useful for that kind of project. Finally we’ll be able to find some meaning to our lives.”

“But, those sculptures… Did you see the construction plan of the red dragon they uploaded on the Grass Porridge Cult homepage? The statue that is going to be 800 meters tall?”

“The scale is just beyond imagination.”

“They’d probably have to carve it out of a building, no, a mountain even.”

“Apparently they are going to connect some steel to rocks… I’m in awe just by imagining it.”

The scale of the project was enough to astound many sculptors who were used to making sculptures with heights of one or two meters. Even Weed had never created a statue of such an enormous size.

“They’re making it in the Garnav Plain, so all the stone and sand will have to be brought in from other regions first; will it really be possible to complete the construction there?”

“You don’t have to worry about the materials. About a million people have been deployed to collect all the materials needed.”

“There’s also a plan for making a floating statue. It is said that they’re going to hang the sculpture in midair and make it move.”

“What? How?”

“Well, they said they’re going to figure out a way from now…”

It was truly exciting news to all the sculptors who had been whiling away their time in Rhodium without anything to do.

“Ugh. Why on earth did I choose to become a painter?”

“I should’ve listened to my friends. Everyone else is out their hunting and making a fortune, and I’m just sitting here wasting my money on paints.”

“Those sculptors must be really happy to have Weed as one of them.”

The painters were idly doodling on the ground while staring enviously at the backs of the sculptors setting off to the Garnav Plain in a hurry, but soon another notice from the Grass Porridge Cult arrived.

“They’re asking painters to gather in the Garnav Plain as well.”

“They need painters too? But I thought they are only making sculptures…”

“Well, obviously they’re having a large number of people working together to build each sculpture; they need the painters to draw the diagrams first so that people can construct the sculptures based on them.”

“Aha, I haven’t thought of that!”

Thus every artist who had been begging in the streets of Rodium began to travel to the Garnav Plain.

A decisive battle between the Arpen Kingdom and the Haven Empire was imminent, and the Garnav Plain — the very place where the fate of the Versailles Continent will be determined — was turning into a gigantic construction site the likes of which had never existed in human history before.

***

Bard Ray’s level has finally reached 592. His power was growing at an overwhelming rate, as befits his nickname, the Godly Warrior.

“I should be able to achieve level 600 soon.”

Ever since the door to Royal Road first opened up, he had maintained his place as the highest-level player. He had monopolized many beneficial quests and hunting grounds and, by exploring dungeons that had not been discovered by other users, he and his royal guards had been devouring twice as much experience points as normal. As a result, he could boast an unmatched power even among the top rankers of the game, yet as the day of the battle drew near he was finding it hard to shake off the anxiety.

“I’m feeling strangely uneasy…”

Something about the thought of fighting against Weed oddly made him tense up. He himself was aware of the fact that he had not achieved the victory as easily as expected during the battle in the Melbourne Mine.

‘The way he effectively used a wide range of skills, and his technique of stealing the perfect timing from his opponent… quite surprisingly, in terms of talent in combat he surpassed my abilities in many aspects.’

Most of Bard Ray’s experience in battles consisted of monster hunting with little risk involved. Even during occasions where he hunted a boss monster for the first time ever, rather than fighting alone he always had a group of his royal guards or a backup force supporting him. Together they coordinated their attacks to deal with the boss monster or other weaker thralls, and as a result Bard Ray was more adept at fighting in collaboration with other users than going into a battle alone.

On the other hand, Weed, as his name suggests, had been beaten and trodden down throughout his many adventures and the ordeals lain in his path, and thus the sole purpose of his fighting was survival.

‘And that’s why I couldn’t let my guard down when I faced him.’

Bard Ray was used to overwhelm his opponents with his high level and flashy combat skills. Even when fighting against other famous rankers like Roam or Calis, he could get the start on his enemies even before the actual battle thanks to his reputation as the Godly Warrior.

However, such a methodology had no effect whatsoever against Weed. Which was why even after his victory in the Melbourne Mine, Bard Ray still counted him as one of his most difficult rival.

‘No doubt, Weed too must have been very conscious of my power ever since.’

Even in the middle of a heated battle, Bard Ray would renew his resolve whenever he thought of Weed. In order to compensate the weaknesses in his fighting style, he had studied videos of Weed’s battles and learned the technique of focus-fire attacks. He had also concentrated his strength on perfecting his swordsmanship as well as learning to better coordinate his skills.

‘Maybe Weed has been looking forward to meet me again, too, in order to determine the strongest player of Royal Road once and for all.’

Sadly, this thought was a one-sided delusion of Bard Ray, as Weed was busy making his living, earning money, farming to increase skill proficiencies on top of all the quests.

‘I need to cast the dice on the coming battle. If I lose in the one-on-one fight by any chance… then the nickname ‘God of War’ will be claimed by Weed, too. ’

And if that happens, it would be an even bigger personal trauma to Bard Ray than the fall of the Hermes Guild itself.

- Lafaye: I need to talk to you about something for a moment.

Bard Ray received this message while he was fighting some bandaged monsters called Gollaps in a hunting ground.

“What is it?”

- Lafaye: There’s something strange going on in the camp of the Grass Porridge Cult.

Bard Ray already knew as much after watching the broadcast.

“I hear that they are planning to make some sculptures while having a festival…”

- Lafaye: My guess is that those activities are related to a certain emperor named Geihar von Arpen.

The Arpen Emperor!

Bard Ray was not too well versed in the knowledge concerning quests or history, as he only had to focus on fighting while Lafaye and the intelligence bureau gathered all the important information and provided all the hunting grounds for him. Nonetheless, he knew quite a lot about the background story of Weed’s founding of the Arpen Kingdom.

“Do you mean the Emperor of the Arpen Empire who once united the Versailles Continent?”

- Lafaye: Yes. Among many skills of sculpting, there is one that can inject life into a sculpture, making it come alive.

The Hermes Guild had been consciously researching Weed’s secret sculpting skills. Disaster Sculpting, Spirit Creation, Sculptural Life Bestowal, Sculptural Resurrection, and Sculpting Blade skills. Not only did they know about them all, but they were also currently studying Moment Sculpting. While they hadn’t figured out the detailed requirement for using this skill, all the researchers agreed that it was an extremely dangerous and complex skill to deal with; Bard Ray himself hadn’t even come close to a solution against an opponent who could stop time. Although it was true that he had become remarkably powerful as a Black Knight, Weed’s strength had been growing just as much as his.

“Are you saying… that they are going to give life to all those giant sculptures I saw on broadcast, make them move?”

- Lafaye: that’s the only explanation I can think of as for what they’re doing it. Every single one of those sculptures will attack our Imperial Army.

Bard Ray’s mind automatically worked to imagine a terrible sight; already there were hundreds of thousands of people working on that grand construction project in the Garnav Plain, to build sculptures of ridiculous size. After about thirteen days, a huge number of those jaw-droppingly gigantic sculptures will be spread over the whole place, and the mighty legion of statues will trample and sweep all over the Haven Imperial Army. The Imperial troops became a top-elite force through repeated wars, but a battle against such an army of sculpture would be simply too dangerous.

Bard Ray hesitated for a second, but in the end he couldn’t help saying, “Isn’t that going to be hopelessly disadvantageous for our side?”

- Lafaye: It seems that Weed… has played the best card he had in his current circumstances.

Despite his nickname as the Godly Warrior, Bard Ray did not want to deal with such monstrous sculptures.

“Any countermeasures? Shouldn’t we stop them from making those sculptures? I don’t think it is fair to rally their users like that to build weapons in advance before the war begins.”

- Lafaye: We have considered making formal condemnation, but I don’t think that will be enough to stop them.

“…”

Due to the popularity of the Hermes Guild among the general users having hit rock bottom, it would be unlikely that people would listen to them even if the guild demanded for a fair fight and asked them to stop the construction.

“Looks like we have a difficult situation.”

- Lafaye: We have come too far to cancel the battle now… I’m afraid the only option left to us now is to fight. We’ll have to deploy the Air Force to deal with those sculptures.

“We’re going to waste one of the secret weapons for protecting the empire like that?”

- Lafaye: what with holding off those statues on top of fighting the Avians, we have no choice but to use the Air Force.

“It’s going to be one confusing fight.”

- Lafaye: Whatever we imagine now, it will be more than that — it’s going to be remembered as the greatest battle in human history.

In the sky, the Air Force, one of the secret weapons that the Hermes Guild had kept hidden until now, will be tangled in the fight against the Avians. On the ground, an army consisting of tens of millions of people will face the top elite troops of the Haven Empire, the conqueror of the Central Continent.

With Lafaye in the center, the entire military force of both the Haven Imperial Army and the Hermes Guild was preparing to assemble.

Bard Ray felt the blood in his veins boil with excitement as he imagined the moments of war.

‘I haven’t felt such a strong emotion even during the conquest of the Central Continent… There was only a sense of accomplishment back then. But this time, I feel like I can truly enjoy the war itself.’

Numerous rankers in the Hermes Guild were honing their swords for the coming battle as well. Not to mention the fact that they had suffered a series of defeats against Weed and the Northern users, it would be a very meaningful experience to do their part in such a legendary war. The Hermes Guild may have become covetous now, but it too had started with its members dreaming of achieving strength and greatness.

‘The greatest battle in the whole continent… that would be worth the time and effort I have put in all the hunting.’

Bard Ray was slowly beginning to loosen up. There was certainly the burden of living up to his name and reputation, but such a magnificent battle would not happen often in his life.

‘Wait. But what if we lose?’

***

Weed and his colleagues were busy making preparations for the coming fight against the sea monsters. They made steel nets, put traps in place, and even studied the seafloor terrain. It was a continuation of a countless number of manual tasks, and no matter how hard they worked they were making very little progress.

“We’ll need some people to help us; we cannot finish this by ourselves.”

Hwaryeong claimed that they needed some more workers, and visited a few nearby villages on the back of Yellowy.

“There is going to be a monster invasion. Please, let us gather our strength and stop them together.”

“We will do that.”

The skill of a dancer with a high Charm stat!

As there were a lot of fishermen among the residents living near the sea, they were of great help in weaving the nets.

In the meantime, Weed, after much consideration, was forced into a conclusion that they had a lot of obstacles ahead to overcome as the battle would be taking place in the vast sea. Stalling those monsters even for just two, three hours was not a simple task in any way.

“I wonder if I’ll have to spread some green algae in the sea…?”

A plan to fight the monsters with terrible marine pollution! Weed stared at the sea seriously trying to estimate the amount and pathway to spread, but soon gave up.

“I wouldn’t be able to protect the fish and the corals in the sea that way.”

Thus, most fortunately, he dropped the idea of attempting to create the worst environmental pollution on the face of the Versailles Continent.

“We’ll just do whatever we can, and if I sculpt a disaster as well… We should be able to stop them for about two hours, even if we might have to lose a portion of the coral reef.”

He had managed to stop even the Immortal Legion by winging it somehow, so there was no reason he couldn’t do it again this time.

As Weed and his companions were working in the late hours of the night, an old man with a long silvery beard approached them.

“What are you all doing here, young lads and lasses?”

While stringing fishhooks to a net, Zephyr waved his hand at the old man as if shooing him away.

“Sir, there’s going to be a monster invasion in this sea. Leave this area and take refuge; it’s not safe here.”

“He’s right. You need to leave right now.”

Surka said with a concerned expression as she rose from her seat. Having a kind heart, she didn’t want to see the villagers die, even though she knew that these people only existed in old history.

“Here, I’ll take you to someplace safe. Where is your house?”

“Home is wherever I am.”

With this curious remark, every party member’s gaze fell on the old man at once; he looked like he had been wearing the same raggedy cloths for at least ten years, and there was not a hint of dignity and command in his dirty face.

‘He’s a homeless, perhaps?’

‘I know this sort of conversation often leads to a quest…’

Travel Sculpting was commonly linked to a great number of quests, probably based on the idea that artistic skills such as sculpting required diverse experience through much travel, although if you asked Weed, he would say that all he wanted was to sit still in one spot until he was hit by a shower of money.

Irene rummaged in her backpack and offered a small pouch to the bearded elderly man.

“Here. Have some nice meal with this. I’m sorry it’s not much.”

The other companions were more sorry to see the money go, but they thought that her action was understandable under current situation; sure, those few gold coins they put in the hands of some poor local man from the past would be a meaningless expense, but human compassion did not always work in a logical and reasonable way. Still, the smile they made at the old man was somewhat stiff and frozen.

“The beautiful lady is so kind!”

The bearded grandfather took the pouch from Irene and poured the content on his palm.

Jangle!

The pile of large coins looked like it would be at least 200 gold.

“Kind lady, might you have some time to spare? As the fate has guided us to meet, would you care to come with me to some quiet place, and…”

She had come all the way to the distant past for a grand quest, and now she ended up with a local grandpa making advances to her. Irene was scrabbling for words as she didn’t know how to respond, when she was greatly startled by the old man’s next words.

“…And allow me to make a sculpture of your beautiful self?”

“Eh?”

“Huh?”

“Wait, what he just said… could it be…?”

It was hardly impossible that the party would stumble onto a local sculptor; there were people with some sculpting skills among the residents of the Versailles Continent, although they were quite rare, and there were shops that sold materials for sculpting as well. However, this old man had such a relaxed air about him that it made them wonder if he was just an ordinary sculptor.

Irene must have had a similar thought, too, for she asked him cautiously, “May I ask your name, sir?”

“Well, it’s quite a common name… I’m called Gherr.”

“I see.”

Weed and the other companions were still looking at him suspiciously, as the name sounded similar to “Geihar”.

‘Well, this isn’t some big mystery to solve; there’s a quick way to check.’

Irene was having the same suspicion in her mind.

“Sure. Please go ahead and make a sculpture of me.”

The master sculptor, Emperor Geihar von Arpen!

If this old man was indeed him, he would be able to create a magnificent piece of art on the spot.

****

Scrape scrape scrape!

A block of white marble was being carved into shape by careful strokes of the old man’s blade.

The speed at which he moved his carving knife was slow, but it took the observing adventurers less than a minute to become fully convinced of his identity, for there could be no mistaking such incredible beauty of his sculpture shimmering in bright colors.

‘How can he make a sculpture of Irene look so pretty? He might as well have created a whole new person!’

‘That’s Emperor Geihar.’

‘The emperor who united the Versailles Continent for the first time ever… and he’s just shown up before us.’

‘This will make Weed-nim’s plan go awry… does that mean we don’t have to do all this work now?’

The other companions were having different thoughts for meeting a hero from old history, but none of them was overly amazed; in terms of amazing things, they were living a far more incredible reality where Weed, just a nobody who they had met shortly after starting Royal Road, had become a man of such fame after undergoing all sorts of hardships. Indeed, it was truly a miracle how they themselves came to become famous just by being close to him, or how they successfully completed all those challenges and adventures that everyone had deemed impossible.

They had travelled in time back to the age in which Emperor Geihar was alive, and they also knew that he was somewhere in the nearby areas, so it was not too much of a coincidence that they had encountered him like this.

‘Well, this messes up my plan a little.’

Weed furrowed his brows, but still closely observed Emperor Geihar’s sculpting work. Rather than trimming down the form and the proportion of the sculpture little by little, Emperor Geihar worked his way from the head to the feet, detailing each part down to the finishing touch before moving on to the next while being completely immersed in the job. The most prominent aspect of his sculpting skills was the great expressiveness which made the sculpture look so full of life that it did not even need any further correction.

‘It’s going to be at least a fine piece, quite possibly a Masterpiece, even.’

Needless to say, the excellent value of the sculpture was to be expected from the master sculptor.

‘Never mind that. I’ll have to call off the plan to win the good graces of him by stopping the sea monsters; now that things have come to this, I might as well just stay close to him.’

Weed walked up to Emperor Geihar and stood almost cheek by jowl with him; he was cleaned up the chips of marble on the ground and provided the emperor with a number of brushes to beat off the dust on the sculpture like an assistant in a hairdresser’s.

“I needed those, thank you. I’ll use them well.”

“It’s my pleasure, sir!”

Weed spoke in a voice that could only be described as sycophantic.

Various kinds of beauty and charm were mingled together in the Emperor’s sculpture; its vividness was such that it looked as if it was about to come alive and move any minute. While Irene was certainly a young and pure-looking lady, her sculpture was a powerful piece of art that could make anyone who beholds it fall in love with it.

‘And it’s slightly different from the real person.’

From the perspective of an expert in sculpting, small changes could be seen such as the legs being slightly longer or the jawline slimmer than the actual model; the emperor possessed remarkable technique in bringing out the beauty of the subject without making any obvious changes.

“This lady is truly adorable.”

Emperor Geihar was now using a sharp tool to carve her hair, taking much time and care, in fine detail. The sight of him working on a piece of art with his body soaked in sweat was indeed quite becoming to a master craftsman.

‘I knew it; the emperor was just another skilled manual worker.’

‘That’s the secret of sculpting — you slog and slog and slog.’

‘Ugh, he smells a bit too much of sweat…’

As this was also a sight with which Weed’s companions were only too familiar, they simply concluded that Emperor Geihar was just another guy like Weed. They could see his manic passion and tenacious purpose, but washing one’s body was also an important part of one’s daily life.

Emperor Geihar looked up at Irene and asked:

“We need to give a title to this piece… would you mind if I named it?”

“No, sir.”

“This work… I shall simply call it ‘A Statue of Beauty’, without any other decorating words.”

*Ding!*

__________________

A Masterpiece! “A Statue of Beauty” has been completed!

A sculptor who brought much glory to the art of sculpting on the Versailles Continent —

Geihar von Arpen, the master of sculpting skills — fashioned a figurine of a devoted priest out of marble, and filled it with his warm touch.

The recovery speed of life force, mana and stamina will increase by 40 percent.

All stats will increase by 52 points.

Faith and Charm stats will permanently increase by 10 points.

Skill proficiencies related to divine professions will increase by a small amount.

The Fame of the region in which the sculpture was completed will increase by 85 points; after a certain time has passed, this place will become a sanctum of faith.

_____________

The Blessing of Goddess Freya has been bestowed!

All aspects of your current status have been improved beyond the average, and your body has reached the maximum ideal condition.

The effect of your racial benefits will be doubled.

Indomitable Resolve!

When a paladin is near their companions, the potency of their divine skills will increase.

You can block any special attacks from Dark-type monsters with holy power.

______________

“I’m grateful that a fair lady like yourself allowed me to make a sculpture of you.”

“I’m the one who should thank you for making such a beautiful sculpture.”

“Oh, it was a huge honor for an old sculptor of some trivial skills. I will remember this day for the rest of my life.”

It seemed that Emperor Geihar couldn’t be in a better mood. He looked at Bellot and Hwaryeong and suggested, “Would you ladies care to be the models for my next works as well? It would be a great honor for this old man.”

“Of course.”

“I’d be delighted!”

Both of them gladly accepted his offer. The popularity they had gained from being part of Weed’s adventures could easily surpass that of many existing celebrities; the video showing the making of their sculptures would spread across the entire world. For now, they were all the more eager to agree to be the models for the emperor as it meant that they would be freed from the infernal task of weaving the nets.

While Emperor Geihar was working on the sculptures of Bellot and Hwaryeong, yet another trick was being devised in the head of Weed, who had been watching them in silence.

***

Weed made a request to Zephyr and Pale.

“Could you catch a large amount of fish for me? I should start preparing dinner.”

“Well, we’re still making these steel nets…”

“You don’t have to worry about that anymore.”

“Alright!”

“I need some venison, boar and bird meat as well. We are going to have a feast this evening.”

While his companions were out hunting for animals, Yellowy and Gold Man gathered some wild herbs. Shortly afterwards, Pale and Maylon brought many deer, hares and birds they had caught, on top of all the delicious looking seafood such as white snow crabs, shrimps and various kinds of fish.

“I could make anything with these.”

Weed’s cooking skill was at Advanced level 2. He already knew how to bring out profound flavor from any ingredient, and now he was given some first and second-class cooking materials.

Weed started to prepare all sorts of delicacies with some help from Surka, who had developed a recent interest in cooking. He simmered, fried, roasted, boiled, and steam-cooked. Soon, a hundred different dishes were lined up in the beach in a grand buffet.

“It’s not much, but please help yourself.”

The eyes of the emperor, who had had a hard day making multiple sculptures in one sitting, were filled with astonishment.

“These are… some magnificent dishes; I can tell just by the smell.”

Weed flipped the Korean pancakes in the frying pan with impressive adeptness. With each snap of his wrist, a flame that was almost a meter tall shot up from the oil in the pan.

“This is just some petty skill I picked up as a pastime. It’s nothing compared to the immortal value of sculpting as an art of expressing beauty.”

“I’m glad to know that you appreciate the value of sculpting.”

“I myself am a sculptor. I have faithfully walked the path of this profession for the entirety of my life.”

“Indeed? Sculpting is a very complex technique to master. I’m impressed a young man like you has been practicing it so diligently.”

Weed had cast the topic of sculpting as a lure to trap the emperor, and Geihar took it like a starving crocodile.

“To be quite frank, I have never considered sculpting to be difficult.”

“What? You think sculpting is easy, then?”

“No, but it’s an art that always gives me much pleasure while pursuing it. Every day is full of happiness as I give body to many beautiful images in my head and live the life of an artist. A sculptor must learn to love all creation in this world through passion and perseverance, wouldn’t you agree?”

With these few lines, Weed had completely buried the entire first year after becoming a sculptor during which he was constantly grumbling about his useless profession.

“Those are some good words. I would love to share more stories with you.”

“I also have a lot of things I wish to learn from you. I’d much appreciate it if you could teach me everything from the scratch, starting from how to grip a burin.”

Weed filled a plate with a large pile of shrimps first and offered it to the emperor.

“I’m ashamed to give you such a humble meal, but please enjoy it.”

Emperor Geihar accepted the plate without a single shred of suspicion.

And while watching their exchange, the faith of the other companions in Weed grew stronger.

“I’d say this Emperor Geihar will become yet another one of Weed-nim’s slaves soon.”

“He was destined to be one the moment he appeared in front of us; just like what happened to Hestiger.”

Weed’s incredible ability to build up intimacy level even with legendary heroes of the Versailles Continent through coaxing and flattery — it hadn’t been of much use after he earned his fame and rose to a higher station, but now that he was using this special talent once more after a long time, the companions were fully confident that Emperor Geihar would begin to be willingly exploited like a slave from next day onwards.

“Weed-nim’s seafood dishes are so delicious.”

“Kya-ah. It’s been a while since I tasted this.”

“This is a fantastic dinner party. A feast in the beach with the sun setting into the sea…”

The food tasted even more delicious to the companions after the long hours of hard labor. While eating, they basked in the beautiful view provided by the shore of the coral sea. Seasoned Crab had also bought an ample amount of beer from the nearby villages, and Romuna, who could use some basic Ice spells although she specialized in Fire magic, cooled the beer to the right temperature. Pale and Maylon also had a glass each.

“We’re having a banquet just among ourselves. If only every day could be like today…”

“I think I’ve given myself a huge treat by following Weed-nim. We’ve had some battle and a memorable trip after that. There will be a lot of days like this after the war with the Hermes Guild is over, don’t you think so?”

“Probably.”

“But what are we going to do if we lose?”

With this sudden question from Surka, a brief silence fell on the table as nobody was quite sure how to respond. If they lost in the coming war, they would become the subject of the Hermes Guild’s unrelenting vengeance, which meant that they might not be able to continue playing Royal Road any more.

Seasoned Crab smiled and said, “We can all move to an inhabited island in the East, or one of those Avian cities in the sky.”

“*sigh* I suppose.”

Sensing the anxiety and worry from the other companions, Maylon hesitantly opened her mouth.

“I’m supposed to keep this a secret, but I have something to tell you.”

“Yes?”

“I think all the broadcasting stations have decided to side with Weed-nim.”

Maylon informed the other adventurers of the recent changes in the atmosphere inside KMC Media.

“About three days ago, Weed-nim invited the chief director of my company to dinner in his house.”

“And?”

Even Zephyr, who was mostly uninterested in the political climate of the Versailles Continent, put down his glass of beer and joined the conversation.

“Well, apparently Weed-nim treated my boss and all the other chief directors with a bowl of Ramyun each…”

“That’s classic Weed-nim.”

“It’s said he didn’t even bother to put any eggs.”

“*gasp*!”

“Anyway, I don’t know exactly what they talked about during that dinner party, but after that day, all the broadcasting stations have been covering various adventures of Weed-nim almost 24/7, including this one.”

In every single channel that was related to Royal Road, people were talking about Weed.

Seasoned Crab asked with a puzzled expression, “Isn’t that just because the battle in the Garnav Plain is due to take place very soon, and he’s also currently in the middle of an adventure that’s taking place in the past?”

“The viewers would certainly think so. But the people working at the broadcasting stations are focusing on editing the videos of Weed-nim’s adventures in as positive a light as possible.”

“Well, that’s because he is very popular among people… also, KMC Media has quite a close relation with Weed-nim… doesn’t it?”

“But what about re-editing all the past adventuring videos and putting them on constant reruns, while implying that he has always succeeded in saving the continent in the end? By comparison, any mentions of the Hermes Guild have been reduced to less than a half of the initial proportion. Even when they do mention them it’s usually for letting people know about the guild’s past evil deeds on repeat.”

“That does sound a bit odd.”

“And this is not only happening in KMC Media. Every single broadcasting station is behaving in a similar way. I think Weed-nim is leading the general mood in his favor through broadcast.”

“…!”

The rest of the companions opened their eyes in sudden realization.

Taking control of the public sentiment using the broadcasting stations around the world before the war begins!

If most of the people in Royal Road’s community were convinced of Weed’s victory, more would flock to the Arpen Kingdom’s side, which would, in turn, dramatically improve the combat strength of the kingdom. That meant that it would become more and more probable that he was to create an outcome which he desired.

“By gods!”

“Wow… I’m having goosebumps right now.”

The companions glanced at the profile of Weed laughing exaggeratedly at the side of the emperor.

“Huheheheheheheh.”

Such a peaceful-looking laugh, as if he would give him a shirt off his back !

‘He certainly knows how to stay on top of his social life.’

‘I remember him saying he learned how to manipulate the media while working as a newsboy. I hadn’t expected it to be anything more than a joke, but now I know he was telling the truth.’

It could be said that Weed was what you get after you combine the art of manual work and social skills.

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