Chapter 13 : The Oasis Blooms

“No matter how I look at it, she definitely looks like a total noob…”

The moment Samantha received the report about the Golems, she rushed straight here.

But when she faced Mei in person, the strong newbie vibe she gave off made Samantha frown deeply.

Kudeu-deu—

“Kyaaah!!”

One of the Sand Golems surrounding Mei grabbed her arm and restrained her.

“So she really is a newbie.”

Samantha was convinced after seeing how easily Mei was subdued.

Seureung—

Mei drew a short dagger that looked like a kukri.

“What the hell? What are you doing here?”

“Uh…”

Although her fashion didn’t seem threatening, the sharp blade she wielded was intimidating.

“My… my comrade got sucked under there!”

“I know that. I’m asking what you were doing just now.”

“W-well…”

She confessed honestly what had happened here, but it was far from enough to convince the now wary Samantha.

After all, digging under the sand with a shovel to find a comrade swallowed by it made no sense at all.

“There must be a hole somewhere. How can I get you to talk…?”

Kugugugugu—

At that moment, the ground beneath the two trembled.

“What?! What did you do?!”

“I-I don’t know!!!”

The shaking intensified, and suddenly a whirlpool formed.

“Ugh?!”

Samantha quickly dodged the vortex and immediately arranged the Golems around it, preparing for any emergency.

Hwaaaa—

A golden light began to emerge from the center of the whirlpool.

Slowly, the shape of a man took form there.

“Ah, Alicia… sir?!!”

Mei called out in delight, but Samantha’s face stiffened coldly.

“Who is that man…?!”

She recognized him instantly from the guild notices as a person of interest!

His unmistakable appearance and aura made it easy to identify.

“Then this woman must be…”

Mei, who was known alongside Jaeho, had no distinguishing features, so Samantha had failed to recognize her.

“Seeing them in person, they really are terrifying…”

When Master Jukjang announced them, Samantha hadn’t paid much attention.

But now that she saw them herself, she understood the warning wasn’t exaggerated.

A powerful aura emanated from the man’s entire body.

His calm gaze was like that of a top predator who looked down on all living things.

Although, like Mei, his fashion screamed newbie.

There was an old saying passed down among veteran gamers through the years:

[Be twice as cautious when facing a naked opponent!]

That shabby, unimpressive appearance was merely bait for prey!

“No way.”

A warning echoed inside Samantha’s mind that she must never fight him.

He was the real deal!

While Samantha was lost in wild speculation, she suddenly noticed the shining crown atop Jaeho’s head.

“?!!!!!!!”

Samantha’s eyes widened as if they were about to pop out.

“Th-that, that, that is…!!!”

Her trembling voice.

It was the exact same crown design she had seen in the records when she obtained her class promotion quest letter…

“Could it be the Crown of Brejal?!”

“Gah?!”

Jaeho was just as surprised by her outburst.

“How did you know?!”

***

The moment Jaeho returned to the surface, what he saw were the Sand Golems, Samantha in strange attire, and Mei holding a shovel.

It was hard to grasp the situation immediately.

What made it even more tense was that Samantha recognized the crown he was wearing at a glance.

“She looks high-level…”

There were too many Golems, which seemed to be summoned creatures.

Considering Jaeho’s level and mana were insufficient to properly control the Sand Golems, it was clear his opponent was no ordinary player.

“You bastard! How did you get that?!”

Meanwhile, Samantha was several times more nervous than Jaeho!

Her quest was to meet Brejal, gain his favor, and receive a deed to upgrade to the unique class ‘Sandglass Guardian’.

But Jaeho was wearing Brejal’s Crown…

“Wait a second. Then what about my promotion quest? Is that human going to promote me?”

Her complexion turned as pale as death.

From the moment Brejal was mentioned, Samantha could guess how formidable her opponent was.

Whether she could take the crown by force was uncertain.

Openly demanding a promotion was too much of a gamble.

Her biggest weakness was that she was too stupid to hide her vulnerabilities first.

In the end, there was only one ideal option.

Build rapport without revealing your intentions, then naturally initiate a trade.

Coincidentally, the newly updated quest notification recommended the same path.

[* Class Quest *]

[Brejal, the cursed king of Cofei, has vanished, and a new king has arisen.

If you earn the trust of the new king, you might receive great rewards.]

Compared to gaining favor with NPCs, this was many times more difficult.

Since the opponent was a player, the quest description was vague and said ‘might’ reward you.

Hoo.

In the end, Samantha made up her mind.

She couldn’t waste the rare opportunity to upgrade to a unique class.

Although she doubted if this person would really promote her…

“There’s no way I’m going to look for another unique class now!”

Thud—!!

Samantha dropped to her knees before Jaeho.

“Co-congratulations on becoming the new king!”

“Hmm?”

Jaeho was caught off guard by her sudden change in attitude.

Inside Samantha’s mind, this action came after long contemplation, but in reality, only five seconds had passed.

—What is with this woman?

Jaeho asked Mei for an explanation but…

Thud!

Mei dropped to her knees alongside Samantha!

“Co-congratulations!! No, I mean, I congratulate you!”

“…Tsk.”

Jaeho bit his lip at the incomprehensible situation.

Where should he even start…?

***

“I should go back and help Samantha. We’ve been too short-sighted.”

Just now, Master Jukjang had been scolded by guild members Kruwa and Sang.

How could he leave after only benefiting from Samantha’s help?

The image of Jaeho suddenly meeting Samantha kept flashing in his mind, clouding his judgment.

“If Samantha gets help, maybe she can recover my class item.”

Uster shook his head at that.

“She’s already in a bad mood from just receiving some help, so asking for more won’t do any good.”

She was apparently so upset that even talking was cut off.

“At least we have to meet and apologize.”

Thanks to Kruwa and Sang, Jukjang had a rough idea of the situation, but the whole mess was exhausting.

After wandering for a while, Jukjang and Uster finally found Samantha.

But—

“Is this an illusion?”

Uster mumbled in disbelief.

“No, I can see it clearly.”

Jukjang also spoke with a shocked face at the distant scene.

What his eyes saw was unbelievable.

Samantha, who had been marked as a person of interest by Prime Guild, was kneeling before their opponent!

Ppuduk!

Uster ground his teeth.

“Now I get it… Samantha was deceiving us all along.”

“L-let’s not jump to conclusions.”

Having known Samantha a long time, Jukjang spoke as rationally as he could.

But losing his class item made that impossible.

“How can you say that after seeing this? It’s obvious they have a master-servant relationship!!

Cutting off communication clearly means she betrayed us!”

“… Let’s just go back for now.”

“Go back?! What the hell for! We need to launch a surprise attack right now!”

Kkwaak—

Jukjang grabbed Uster’s shoulder tightly.

“Do you think we can win? Samantha alone is a class that can take on three people, and there’s an unknown player with her.

Besides, if Samantha, who’s proud as hell, bows like that, imagine how strong the other must be!”

“Grr…”

Usster knew it too.

But emotions wouldn’t calm down easily.

His class item was with that guy!

“I’ll talk to Samantha separately, so keep this matter secret from the guild for now.

It’s better to deal with it after checking everything carefully.”

***

“So… you followed the quest and came looking for the King of Cofei?”

“Yes!”

Samantha treated Jaeho with an almost oppressive level of respect.

Jaeho felt suffocated by the overwhelming awkwardness.

“C-could you speak a bit more casually?”

But the aura emanating from Jaeho’s back perfectly conveyed his meaning in the worst way possible.

It was like the battalion commander patting a soldier’s shoulder and saying, ‘Relax a bit.’

Chuk—

As a result, Samantha’s posture shifted instantly from stiff attention to relaxed ease.

“Are you a soldier…?”

“Um… but have you really become king?”

Mei asked cautiously.

And what about the flower shop they were singing about?

“This is just for show.”

Jaeho took off the invisible crown and said.

“I thought I’d need it if I were to start a flower shop here.”

“… Huh?”

“…?”

What did that have to do with a flower shop?

No, was it even reasonable to open a flower shop in the desert?

“Um… sorry, but isn’t opening a flower shop in the desert a bit much?”

Mei, who rarely voiced dissent, spoke up.

“A flower shop… what nonsense is that?”

Even Samantha’s expression joined in disbelief.

Though their reasons differed, both women looked like they were staring at a madman.

“Look at that path!”

At their reaction, Jaeho pointed to the sand pit he had just jumped out of.

“Huh!”

“O-oasis?”

The water had quietly risen, reflecting light without disappearing.

“Th-this can’t be! How…”

Samantha dipped her hand cautiously into the water with a shocked expression.

It was cold enough to send chills from underground.

“After Brejal died, the curse on this land was lifted, and the underground water started flowing again.”

Jaeho squatted by the water and said.

“That’s why I decided to start here.

I’m going to try to revive this wasteland.”

He took out a seed of The Epfeltz Flower That Never Blooms from his inventory.

Carefully planting it, he then used a skill.

“<Rapid growth>”

A faint glow spread from his fingertips into the soil, then the ground began to subtly tremble.

“?”

Samantha, puzzled by his actions, soon saw a new sprout emerge and gasped.

“W-what is that?”

It definitely looked amazing… but honestly, she couldn’t understand why he learned such a skill.

“Just like with the Spirit Flower Class, I’m starting from the Epfeltz Flower.”

That was Jaeho’s resolve.

[ title acquired <Desert Flower>.]

[You receive a plant growth bonus in unsuitable environments.]

[Your feat of making flowers bloom in the desert is legendary.]

[Your identity as King of Cofei may become known.]

He ignored the last notification.

He had no intention of playing king anyway.

“This is the real start!”

Like the rising water of the oasis, Jaeho’s expectations soared.

***

Among the World Wide Observation Team, the player attracting the most attention lately was Alicia.

Not only did she obtain a carefully hidden class few could discover, but she had also received two class quests before even reaching level 100.

Now she had cleared a level 300 dungeon using a hidden strategy and even become king.

“Isn’t this breaking the balance?”

One staff member remarked.

Considering Brejal was level 45 when defeated, clearing the dungeon should have been impossible.

But the passive effect of the Spirit Flower Class worked so cleverly that the high-level dungeon and unique class vanished without a trace.

“No, she was smart and fought well, not just lucky.

Choosing to respond calmly in that situation is not something you can easily dismiss.”

Of course, there were dissenters.

“I think it’s less about balance and more about a setting collapse.

Spirit Flower Class as heir to the cursed king…”

Some criticized the New World’s lore.

Indeed, Alicia’s behavior was astonishing.

It was almost incomprehensible that the system allowed such actions.

Among all classes, the Spirit Flower was the most nature-friendly and life-affirming.

Yet here it was summoning the cursed undead and trying to command them.

“But… from the start, she didn’t look ordinary.”

“… That’s true.

With that terrifying appearance, and then opening a flower shop…”

The observation team members slowly began to accept Jaeho’s actions as natura