Chapter 14 : The Oasis and the Crown

As if the observation team had been horrified, Jaeho was currently dividing the Oasis area into sections and planting Epfeltz Flowers.

He had also invested all the Sut obtained from capturing Brejal into Mana, successfully summoning four undead.

“Th-this person… in the end, he was just as greedy as Brejal!!!”

“Ahhh! What a dreadful thing!”

“Playing just as his appearance suggested…”

Those who thought they could finally rest in peace and closed their eyes found themselves awake again, filled with anger and despair.

Completely bound by the sand clock, they could no longer resist as they had before.

Yet, while shedding tears of blood, they noticed something unusual.

Jaeho ordered the sand of the desert to be ground up and planted Dawan seeds there.

“Wh-what is this?”

“I’m opening a flower shop here. So you all have to help me.”

The undead’s expressions upon hearing this were almost indistinguishable from those of Mei and Samantha.

Meanwhile, Samantha, who had become Jaeho’s loyal follower faster than anyone else, was hard at work on one side.

More precisely, it wasn’t Samantha herself, but the Sand Golems, her livestock, who were diligently working.

These powerful Golems, versatile in battle through swaps with Samantha and their strong combat abilities, were now nothing more than laborers, simply acting as retaining walls to prevent the sand from filling in the pits they dug.

Samantha sat slumped in the desert, staring blankly at the void.

She was someone who had been watching the Rangers closely…

Pa-aaang—!!!

Ssa-aaang—

At that moment, another underground water source burst out through two holes made by the Golems.

Water droplets shattered under the scorching sunlight.

But the droplets falling over Samantha’s head looked like rain.

“Samantha! Master Jukjang is asking to release Gokmal’s blockade.”

Kruwa’s voice, breaking through her daze.

“Ah, it’s still blocked?”

Only then did Samantha release the blockade and speak to Jukjang.

“Why?”

“Samantha! Do you know how much trouble it was to calm Usster until now? They even blocked Gokmal!”

“…What? Are you seriously saying that? They only called on me when they needed help but ignored mine!!!”

Annoyance instantly surged in Samantha.

“Fxxx!! If you’d helped earlier, none of this would’ve happened…!!!”

After her furious curse ended, Jukjang gave a rough rundown of the situation.

“That’s… a real mess.”

“Now you get it? Anyway, it’s annoying, so if you want to complain, get lost! I’m going to get promoted no matter what!”

Samantha blocked Gokmal again.

Jaeho approached to check the situation, but Samantha covered her expression and bent her knees to indicate exhaustion.

“Can’t you just skip that?”

“I’m fine!”

Despite Jaeho’s words, Samantha was adamant.

“…Anyway, thanks for the hard work.”

“Thank you!”

Ignoring her excessive loyalty, Jaeho checked the flowing underground water.

“But isn’t it impossible to keep this going just by digging? Once the Golems are removed, it’ll all collapse because it’s sand.”

Mei’s straightforward words were correct.

“Our goal is to supply enough water to this area. We can’t just wait for the underground water to rise all the way to the surface.”

In other words, Samantha would have to keep digging tunnels.

“I understand!”

“Isn’t she hesitating a bit?”

“Of course. Anyone can tell she’s hiding something.”

Unaware of Samantha, Jaeho and Mei exchanged a glance.

Jaeho also knew Samantha was hiding a certain goal.

But no matter how much he told her to stop, she wouldn’t listen, and it was impossible to stop her by force, so they were letting her run wild for now.

“She’s a bit scary.”

“Exactly. Better to keep your distance.”

“No, that’s not it…”

Jaeho chose not to say more.

He wasn’t comfortable enough yet to go into details.

***

The water supply work in the desert continued for several days.

During that time, Jaeho took some time to visit Luxi Forest.

He wanted to ask for help in creating a flower garden near the Oasis.

He was worried about how the Elves would receive the idea of the Spirit Flower Maiden opening a flower shop in the desert… but fortunately, it went well.

“Hmm? What’s that?”

Without hesitation, Samantha, digging tunnels, spotted a cloud of sand rising in the distance.

“Could it be reinforcements from the guild?”

It was not a welcome sight.

They could easily suppress it with numbers, but it might complicate Jaeho’s promotion.

“Alicia!”

But as the figures came closer and were visually confirmed, Samantha was stunned.

They were Elves—a race notoriously known for their bad temper, often difficult to meet and prone to fights.

“Oh, you’re here. Sorry for making you come all the way out to the desert.”

Jaeho apologized, but the leading Elf smiled brightly and shook her head.

“How could we not come when the Spirit Flower Maiden is opening a shop in the desert?”

“…?”

Rubbing her eyes, Samantha looked again at Jaeho and the Elves.

But it was no mirage.

“How did you build such good relations with the Elves so quickly?”

It was clear it wasn’t an ordinary relationship.

From the recent conversation, Samantha also learned Jaeho’s class.

“Spirit Flower Maiden…?”

She could tell by the aura that it was at least a rare class.

“Oh! Amazing! Finding underground water in this desert! Truly…”

The Elves inspected the moist land around.

As expected of Elves, they quickly sensed the environmental changes taking place here.

“The longer time passes, the more water spirits will appear here, and naturally, the desert will improve.”

“However…”

Their gaze stopped on a group of people working on the soil.

“Those are…”

“Ah!”

Jaeho realized in a flash.

The Elves were pointing to Cofei’s undead, diligently turning the earth!

They never imagined the Elves would recognize the undead as well.

“Truly, the Spirit Flower Maiden!”

“…?”

“Have you heard of the Elder of Trian Village? There are countless stories of Tinlight saving undead souls. These must be similar.”

“Y-yes. You know it well!”

“Haha! Naturally!”

“Uahaha!!!”

Mei and Samantha, who overheard the conversation, shared the same thought.

“Something feels a bit off…”

Especially Mei, whose admiration for the Elves might soon turn into jealousy.

“Oh! Assistant is here too! How have you been?”

“Ehehe, hello!”

Nothing like that had happened.

“Something… feels strange…”

Samantha’s head spun.

Could it be that everything she had experienced so far was just an illusion?

The Elves came to check Jaeho’s flower shop plans.

They strongly hoped to build an Elf-style building, which made Jaeho, who had only planned to gather timber or stone, feel relieved.

“The interior needs a lot of tropical plants. The central hall should be spacious so it can be seen from all sides…”

Jaeho drew sketches on the sand while explaining.

“Excellent! We will build a house that will surely satisfy Alicia!”

Confidently, the Elves returned to Luxi Forest.

***

The ‘Polar Bear’ guild, based in Russia, was the largest and strongest worldwide.

In fact, it was more infamous for unrestrained mana theft, dungeon control, and racial discrimination within the game.

Yet no one dared oppose them easily, revealing their enormous influence.

And today, the Polar Bear guild was about to make a historic mark in New World history.

“There are more people gathered at Deran Castle today than ever before, creating a magnificent coronation.”

Players and NPCs alike united to witness the grand event.

“Although the Polar Bear guild has many supporters and detractors, there is no doubt they will leave a great legacy in New World history. Other major guilds are also here to celebrate…”

This event had caught the attention of much of the media.

It was the birth of the first player king.

And the protagonist was none other than Polar Bear’s Guild Master, Crowing.

Step—step—

Clad in magnificent armor, he appeared atop Deran Castle.

A momentary silence fell over the plaza.

The dazzling sun illuminated his shaved head, like a sign of the new kingdom’s future.

“I hereby proclaim Crowing as the new king of Deran! And from this day forth, Deran shall be renamed the ‘Polar Bear Kingdom’ by his command!”

As his magically enhanced voice echoed far and wide,

[You have been proclaimed king of the Polar Bear Kingdom before all the world.]

“Waaaaaah!!!”

It was a spectacle!

The citizens beneath Crowing cheered and fireworks shot into the sky.

Yet his expression was deeply dissatisfied.

Something was missing.

Given New World’s long operation history, there was a wealth of analysis data.

According to the data, a global alert announcing “The first player king has been born” should have appeared at such a massive event.

Players and analysts watching the coronation noticed this and their faces stiffened.

Such silence meant…

“…Could it be?”

People exchanged unbelieving glances.

They all thought the same thing.

“Is there already a player king in existence?”

“Find them.”

A single message from Crowing in guild chat.

He vowed to find whoever ruined his coronation.

***

[Headlines]

– What happened to the “First Player King” title?

– Embarrassed Polar Bear Kingdom: a coronation 2% short after a year of preparation.

– First Player King hiding identity? Why?

– Likely a choice to avoid Polar Bear’s aggressive interference.

Countless articles poured out.

Due to Polar Bear’s prior actions, most evaluations were negative.

– “They probably killed the guy who took the title already.”

– “100%. Anyone who knows their petty nature would agree.”

– “But maybe the title didn’t even exist.”

– “No way. Since the game’s been running this long, it must exist. The lack of global notification means the opponent deliberately hid it.”

– “Whoever it is must be a hero. The Polar Bears got owned.”

“Ha—those Polar Bears must be pissed!”

Wansik laughed while browsing the community.

“Huh? What’s that?”

Jaeho put down the barbell he was holding and glanced at Wansik’s phone.

“What? You haven’t heard? It’s been all over the 9 o’clock news lately.”

“I’ve been busy playing.”

Since Wooram gave him a used capsule, Jaeho had been busy every day.

His mother kept an eye on him, but he had remained quiet so far.

“There’s a guild called Polar Bear made by Russian skinheads. It started small, but racists from all over gathered, and suddenly it became the largest guild.”

“What? That still exists these days?”

“Even if racial discrimination is a serious crime, it doesn’t matter much in New World. They just want to do whatever they want in the virtual world since they can’t in real life.”

Actually, the worldwide server had no involvement in racial discrimination in-game.

Because the game world was created by players, external forces didn’t interfere.

“But isn’t New World a Korean game?”

“Right?”

“It’s a bit strange to have racial discrimination in a Korean game.”

“If they were smart enough to think about that, they wouldn’t discriminate in the first place.”

“That’s true.”

Jaeho quickly reached a conclusion.