Chapter 30 : Coronation of the First Player King

The news of Jaeho’s coronation was delivered worldwide via global message!

The entire world was buzzing with excitement, each rushing to spread the news.

[The first-ever player king, Alicia, has appeared!]

And on the very same day, it was also revealed that the Luxi Royalty had utterly crushed the Bulgeom Guild.

The general reaction was something along the lines of, “Well, of course,” or “They probably aren’t really royalty anyway.”

ㅡ I have a feeling this is what Seo Donghyuk, the chairman of Seopung, was referring to.

As many had suspected before, the player named Alicia had intentionally concealed their identity, likely waiting for the Elves to gather in full.

And now, having overwhelmingly blocked the preemptive strike of the Bulgeom Guild, they are confident.

They are a meticulous and terrifying existence, not unlike their appearance.

There were even completely unintended misunderstandings arising.

ㅡ Actually, there’s also controversy around a player class called ‘Spiritization Agent’ that has been appearing in the auction house recently.

And potions made by Spiritization Agents coincidentally appeared as quest rewards for Hell Desert’s laborers.

So many suspected a connection to Alicia, but it seems unlikely.

It makes no sense for a crafting class to be that close with the Elves and gain royal status.

Still, it’s possible they have some sort of acquaintance.

Other rumors were also growing rapidly.

ㅡ But why on earth is the country’s name ‘Elysia Garden’? Wouldn’t ‘Hell Desert’ sound cooler?

***

“Hey! XX!! It’s not ‘king,’ it’s Lady Alicia.”

“Oh, you’re here?”

Jaeho’s ears caught the familiar voice.

It was Muscle Taengtaeng Ham Wansik, approaching while glancing nervously at the nearby Elves.

“You crazy bastard! How could you make your friend suffer this long?”

Wansik came into Jaeho’s Flower House and immediately spat out his complaints.

“You went all out with that slave experience because of the rice cake festival!!!”

After being beaten up by Elves and forced into hard labor at the Monday-Tuesday-Wednesday cattle ranch, he was only now released by Jaeho’s order.

“You can’t blame me. It’s your fault for coming when I wasn’t here.”

Jaeho had pleaded with Mei to release Wansik, but even though Mei was friendly with the Elves and the only one besides Jaeho who could handle them, she couldn’t free Wansik.

That much ill will was deeply rooted.

“Damn it! If I’d been here, I’d at least be getting some camera time at the Bulgeom Guild! Haha!”

Wansik grabbed his head in frustration.

“Hey, hey, sorry. But who could have predicted this situation? And I did warn you to be careful what you say in front of the Elves.”

“No way I expected it to get this bad. I heard they even have a counseling center now!”

“That, that wasn’t made because of me.”

Jaeho clarified.

It was Breeze, brought along to save Giant (?) who had taken it upon himself to set up shop there.

“Hey, at least it’s teaching us how to deal with the Elves, right?!”

“Dealing? It’s all just begging lessons!!!”

“…So what do you want me to do about it?”

Jaeho snapped back.

“Then do you want me to go out and get beaten up more?”

“…Sorry.”

Wansik immediately apologized.

“By the way, I saw a global alert recently. So we officially declared a country, huh? But what kind of crazy person names a country after a flower shop?”

“I started this game to run a flower shop in the first place.”

“No, the country’s name should be cooler, and just have a wooden sign or something. Hell Desert sounded better.”

“Hell what…?”

“See, you didn’t know.”

Wansik nodded with a look that said “I expected as much.”

“I have a feeling this is going to be a disaster… But I don’t want to know. You should just go learn your work.”

“Work? What work?”

“<Summon Mirage Soldier>!”

Swaaah—

A small sandy gust rose as Cofei’s soldier appeared.

“Take this guy and teach him about the garden work. If he misbehaves, report him to the Elves.”

“What? Hey, hey, I’m Ham Wansik! Your friend!!!”

“I’m here to help you too, so go learn your work.”

“This way, please.”

The Cofei soldier grabbed Wansik’s arm and pulled, but Wansik resisted with strength.

“Or else I’ll call the Elves.”

“You bastard, just wait until the gym tomorrow…!!”

***

After sending Wansik away, Jaeho sought out Giant to discuss city construction.

“Ah, Your Majesty, you have arrived.”

Now officially king, Jaeho received the utmost respect from Giant.

Though he was a junior ranking, the gap in status was overwhelming.

“How have things been? The Elves are pretty closed off…”

Jaeho smiled faintly as he spoke.

“Haha. It’s fine…”

But the worry shadowing Giant’s face hadn’t disappeared.

“Still, there’s been some unrest lately. At this rate, soon you might have to deal with ‘disgruntled Elves’ personally…”

It was best not to ask further about that.

“Hmm hmm—Anyway, the Elves have been building their own houses, but… do you think there might be any issues with the city design?”

“Ah, I’ve been considering that as well. I recently had a big realization.”

“?”

Jaeho expressed curiosity, and Giant immediately pulled up the system interface.

“This is the city plan I thought of!”

“Th-this is…”

Jaeho was speechless upon seeing it.

Because—

“It’s blank paper.”

Indeed.

What Giant showed was a completely empty sheet.

“Hoho… yes.”

Yet Giant remained relaxed.

“Until now, I was stuck in perfectionism. I believed the ideal was a design where everything was flawlessly controlled, fitting together like clockwork.

But seeing the free-spirited construction by the Elves here, I realized something.

Though it may seem chaotic, there are rules within that naturalness, and beauty exists.

And a truly outstanding architect must maximize that.”

“What kind of nonsense is that?”

[ <Spirit of Vitality> says ‘I totally don’t know what to do either, so I’m just going to let this go mentally.’]

“Do you think the same?”

Rarely did their opinions align so well.

Giant continued his monologue, and Jaeho, watching him with sympathy, made up his mind.

“This can’t go on. We have to do something.”

No, it wasn’t just patience or strategic cooperation with the Elves—Jaeho was tired of the humiliation he and others endured.

Not just Giant, but Samantha, Wansik, and others.

It was a problem that key figures who should be aiding Elysia couldn’t communicate with the Elves properly.

“Let’s make an accessory that gives a buff!”

The hint was the .

A powerful buff item that dramatically increases the Elves’ favor just by wearing it.

Tip—

Jaeho placed his hand on Giant’s shoulder.

“Let’s endure and wait a little longer.”

“Eh? Ah, yes…”

Giant, though unsure what was coming, accepted boldly.

“I will somehow resolve this for you.”

With those words, Jaeho returned to the Flower House.

“…Why is that?”

Giant, whose mind was usually sharp, started his own work.

But Jaeho had no idea that Giant’s ‘first words’ until now were actually sincere.

***

Pink Clover’s Proof Necklace

It wasn’t made with any extraordinary materials.

It was simply woven from pink four-leaf clovers, with nothing particularly special.

“Can plant-based items even be observed?”

“<Plant Observation>.”

[Equipment items cannot be analyzed.]

“Just as I thought. There’s nothing we can figure out.”

In that case, there was no choice but to head in blindly.

“Epfeltz Flower is definitely the easiest.”

Jaeho brought a few Epfeltz Flowers and, recalling childhood memories, tried making a flower ring.

With his large hands, he carefully fiddled until he barely finished tying the knot.

[<Epfeltz Flower Ring> completed.]

[Due to excessively low durability, special options cannot be granted.]

[Perfect understanding of the <Epfeltz Flower> .]

[Contains the <Epfeltz Flower Spirit>.]

[<Epfeltz Flower Ring>]

[Rarity: Rare]

[No usage requirements.]

[This is a flower ring made by a Spiritization Agent.]

[It breaks easily.]

[Because of the inhabiting the ring, Elves are interested.]

“Whoa?!”

Though it was a clumsy flower ring made for an experiment, it immediately gained the option Jaeho needed.

“Well, it’s a bit different, but…”

Instead of specifically saying ‘favor,’ it stated ‘interest.’

What exactly did this option mean…

[ <Spirit of Vitality> says ‘Elf interest may not necessarily be a purely good thing.’]

“Exactly.”

Today was already the second time their opinions matched!

“Let’s try making one with another flower.”

Jaeho took one by one the flowers he’d successfully cultivated and made rings.

The result confirmed one thing.

“This option only appears when the flower is 100% ‘observed.’”

Meaning, it was important that the flower spirit of the material resided in the flower-made item.

“To find out what effect the Elves’ interest has…”

ㅡ Hey, Wansik. Busy?

ㅡ Yeah, I’m damn busy hauling shit!!!

As soon as he complained, he got a sharp response.

ㅡ Ahem… Just finish that quickly and come to the workshop for a bit.

ㅡ Not telling you to come right now…

[ Muscle Pangpang has been blocked.]

***

“You bastard, you’re here.”

“Hey, wait. Don’t come in with those filthy feet.”

Wansik looked on the verge of tears.

He wanted to scream “F*** off!!!” and barge in, but… the Elves wouldn’t leave him alone if he did.

“Ugh, no matter what you call it, shit is still shit, isn’t it?”

Jaeho shook his head and asked as he stepped outside.

“Enough. Why did you call me?”

“Hey, I called you because I’m your friend and wanted to take special care of you.”

Jaeho quickly answered Wansik’s stern expression.

“What? What shit is it this time?”

“No shit.”

Jaeho took out the .

“What’s this?”

“It’s a gift.”

“I’m getting chills. Can you move that away?”

“Why?”

“Imagine being given a flower ring that doesn’t suit you, not even by a woman, but by a man who looks worse than me.”

It certainly wasn’t a pretty sight.

“Hmph… Anyway, try wearing this. I made it, and it might help with the Elves’ favor.”

“Oh, is that so? If I wear this, can I finally get out of the shit bucket?”

“Uh… probably?”

“Phew… then I’ll wear it.”

Wansik put on the ring with a reluctant face.

In just a few days, he had clearly felt what it meant to be human here.

Humans in Elysia could be broadly categorized into three types.

Alicia, humans, and trash.

Alicia was, of course, Jaeho himself.

The only being who received the Elves’ unique love.

There was only one other human categorized as such: Mei.

Well, if you squeezed in, Samantha and Breeze could be included too.

And the rest of the humans were trash.

Beings worse than Spiritization Agent’s crap.

If the flower ring Jaeho made yielded the expected results, even the trash might be treated as proper humans.

“…But I don’t feel anything yet?”

“Ah, wear it and live with it for a while.”

“Hm?”

Wansik froze at Jaeho’s strange order.

“Why? Shouldn’t the effect show immediately?”

“No matter how much of a game this is, immediate effects would be strange. And this is related to favor.”

“Hmph, true.”

Convinced, Wansik wore the ring.

But Jaeho was unaware that merely talking about the Epfeltz Flower had already earned him immense favor from the Elves.

Wansik had no idea either.

If he had known what was to come, he never would have worn the ring.