The legendary Moonlight Sculptor

V50C8P2 A New Achievement

The atmosphere in the Garnav Plain was still quite unsettled. The users from the Central and Northern Continents had gathered around together, deeply occupied with watching the broadcast programs on Weed and the advanced training hall.

- You know, when it comes to combat there are certain factors to consider: which side is stronger, or which uses better tactics? Thing is, in this case he's fighting alone — which means there's nothing more to consider; he's a dead man.

- Weed's 'No Defeat' legend? That kind of story includes a lot of exaggerations. The claim that he will keep succeeding just because he has never failed before is purely groundless belief.

- I agree. He has received the absolute support of the common users and, with the help they provided out of sympathy, he has been able to use the human wave strategy against the Hermes Guild. But Weed himself was once killed by Bard Ray-nim in the Melbourne Mine, wasn't he?

- His overflowing ego fed by the crowd praising him to the sky has eventually led him to self-destruction. Frankly, he'd be much better off now if he had decided to just wash his feet and go to bed.

- A way to clear the advanced training hall alone[1] ? There's been a lot of investigation, but none has been revealed so far. Besides, there have been more than just a few people who have cleared the training hall. They didn't just decide to go in groups because they were fools; Weed's attempt to clear it alone is simply too risky.

- There's a reason why it's called the Path of Struggle: it's because you have to fight. A lot. All those tricks Weed has used until now won't work in there.

Players who were among the top 500 rankers of Royal Road and other so-called experts appearing on the programs were giving their opinions, all of which were pessimistic. While it was true that Weed's new trial indeed looked very reckless to their eyes, their united voice was also largely influenced by Lafaye's secret instructions to the Hermes Guild.

- During interviews, you must repeatedly emphasize that Weed's challenge has been the worst possible choice. We need to swing the public sentiment into thinking that he will fail this time and it will eventually lead to the defeat of the Arpen Kingdom.

Weed had already set up a number of plans in his favor in the Garnav Plain, and Lafaye was attempting to interfere by shaking up the crowd mentality.

At first, the Garnav Plain remained moderately unaffected. But as people watched the broadcast, fear began to build up, which soon led to deterioration of the overall atmosphere.

"I trusted him because it was Weed… How could he betray us all like this?"

"He could've waited for just a few more days… He couldn't be arsed to do that?"

"I just can't understand people who behave like that right before such an important event. I mean, who does he think we're doing all this hard work for?"

"Dammit, forget it all! I quit!"

"Everyone, let's just stop working and play. Why do we have to put all our efforts like this? It's all over anyway!"

The general mood was darkening in the Garnav Plain, centering on the users from the Central Continent. Spies that had been urgently sent from the Hermes Guild also expressed their dissatisfaction and beguiled the public opinion.

They were trying to cause riot!

"Hey, let's just go and have a bite somewhere. I'm hungry."

"Drat, I don't even know why I bothered coming here. I wasted a lot of money for using the teleport gate."

"I've ridden all the way from the Rosenheim Kingdom on horseback. *Sigh*. Was it all for nothing?"

"Hello, could we have a bottle of soju, no, whiskey over here?"

Inside restaurants and pubs in the Food Alley, various alcoholic beverages including beers and wines were being sold at a frightening speed. The users who had gone through so much hard work making preparations for the battle against the Hermes Guild were now expressing their rage as well.

The minds of the crowd had caught fire in the Garnav Plain!

If by any chance the one hundred million users gathering in this place should disperse and fall apart, things would truly become irremediable.

However, there were still countless users who were busily carrying and piling up building materials in silence.

3,700 gigantic sculptures were presently under construction — this historical undertaking that would completely change the whole scenery of the Garnav Plain was now entering its final stage. As people had set up such an extremely lofty goal, they had to work day and night in order to complete the sculptures on time.

"We're running short of stones. Please bring some more."

"Sure. We've used all the stones in the nearby areas, so people are bringing some extra stones from outside."

"The Mapan Trading Company has provided some carriages for us; if there are any carriage drivers here, lend us a hand, please."

Those who were moving constantly for the construction work made up more than 60 percent of the entire crowd in the Garnav Plain.

Bella, a reporter from KMC Media, interviewed a few people after informing them it was part of live coverage.

"Hello."

"Hi, nice to meet you."

Bella approached a user who was carrying a stone slate larger than his own body. Even as he was giving the interview, he continued walking, one struggling step after another.

"First, could you give us your name, please?"

"I'm Soft Tofu, a user from the Northern Continent."

"Okay. The mood in this place is quite unsettled after Weed-nim went to challenge the advanced training hall, yet you are still here, giving assistance to the people building the sculptures, is there any reason why-…?"

Soft Tofu put down the stone slate for a moment and straightened his stooped back.

"So, what changed?"

"…Sorry?"

"Did Weed-nim ruin any of our plans?"

"Well, he entered the advanced training hall, and-…"

"And? Did he die there?"

"No, but this time it doesn't seem he will be able to clear this training hall by himself…"

Soft Tofu gave a good-natured smile.

"Every time Weed-nim went on a new adventure, there have always been people who said he would fail. Those people who are giving interviews on TV programs now, they also said similar things before, correct?"

"Well, I mean, they…"

Experts and top rankers had indeed been keeping their pessimistic stance whenever Weed started an adventure. On the other hand, the users who started playing Royal Road in the Arpen Kingdom held absolute faith — the faith that, without Weed, their life would have been much more unhappy.

"He's not truly dead until he actually dies. Making predictions for his death is also pointless. It's understandable if you think he will not be able to make it here when we're fighting the Hermes Guild… but we still don't know that, either. So why should I stop doing my duty?"

"…"

Soft Tofu's interview was broadcast live through the KMC Media channel.

"He's right, you know."

"Yeah. It's a loss for all of us if we give up fighting or get defeated."

The interview was enough to calm the atmosphere in the Garnav Plain, which had been growing worse after Weed's venture into the advanced training hall, if only by a small amount.

"Everyone, there's only a very short time left. Let's cheer up and continue preparing for the battle while making statues and enjoying the festival."

"Let's just do our best. We can blame Weed-nim once we find out he's really let us down, but… he hasn't done anything yet."

The users from Morata took the lead in spurring the construction of the sculptures.

In the meantime, there had been several meetings within the Grass Porridge Cult in which they discussed their true identity.

- What is the point of our existence?

- Until when do we have to continue fighting for Weed and the Arpen Kingdom?

So far, the Grass Porridge Cult had actively involved itself in numerous battles or other matters that improved the national power of the Arpen Kingdom. Its influence was expanding on a daily basis, evidenced by the tremendous increase in the number of porridge groups. Yet the cult members had no reason to hold grudges against the Arpen Kingdom, as they were enjoying a free life, not subjected to any compulsory rules or orders from the kingdom.

- We don't have to live our lives for Weed-nim. Let's live in order to make our lives more enjoyable.

- The reason why we put our strength together whenever there's a war? Indeed, a lot of people wonder about it. We're not doing it to show our loyalty to Weed-nim; we're doing it for the sake of all of us.

- We don't believe that the Arpen Kingdom belongs to Weed-nim only. We have built this country together, and we are fighting to protect something that belongs to all of us… What's so strange about that?

- The battle in the Garnav Plain. Let's all fight together. Weed-nim is not the only one who made all those things possible.

The users of the Grass Porridge Cult decided to move freely between the construction work and the festival. As nobody was forcing anyone to do anything, people were merely following their own hearts.

***

The first group of enemies Weed faced after opening the Gate of Trial was an order of 50 Goblin Knights.

"Salutations to the one who possesses courage. You'll have to defeat us to move forward. Kuku."

Weed's sharp eyes told him that the area of the open ground on which the goblins were standing was about 300 square meters. The Path of Struggle had widened up a little, enough to stage a larger scale battle.

'An order of knights… this sounds fun.'

Although they were mere monsters, the Goblin Knights seemed to be in the middle to late 400s in terms of levels. They weren't easy opponents, nor were they overly difficult to deal with; it would have given him a bigger headache if they had appeared in combination with archers, mages, shamans and priests. Goblins were also equipped with poor armors and shields.

'Crash in, break them, and I win.'

Weed raised the Loa Sword.

"Challenger, come forward."

"Heraim Fencing!"

He rushed through the lines of goblins, slashing one at a time. At first he appeared to be focusing on precise strikes, but the main characteristic of Heraim Fencing was that it grew stronger with each accumulating blow.

*Slam!**Crash!**Bam!**Thump!*

After about ten successful strikes, Weed's attacks had become extremely quick and powerful. The intensity of his blows threw off the shields and slammed the bodies of the goblins into the wall even when they defended.

"Uuaaarrgh!!"

"Keeckk!"

The Goblin Knights had been sneering at the sole challenger a minute ago. Weed jumped straight into the enemies and swept around like a storm.

< A quick battle.Swiftness is a warrior's deadly weapon. You have completed the combat with the most quick and precise attacks. As a result of a record-breaking battle against multiple enemies:

Your Strength increases by 1 point.Your Dexterity increases by 3 points.Your Fame increases by 3,213 points. >

On the Path of Struggle, one could easily earn bonus stats by fighting well. Even when he was not in this kind of place, Weed always engaged in combat focusing heavily on being as efficient as possible, to the last 1%.

'How do I increase my hunting speed? I need a way of efficiently taking blows to increase my toughness… and a faster way to collect loot, too.'

The result was that he could boast a hunting speed that was so fast other people couldn't keep up with it. The efficiency of perfect farming! Every time he engaged in a battle, through his superb concentration ability, a message appeared for each stat which could be obtained!

"Pitiful."

The comment Weed made after eliminating the Goblin Knights was a short one. There was nothing to salvage from their swords or armors. Normally, he could still make something out of them with his blacksmithing skills if he picked them up and melted them. Even if they were made of very poor materials, he could still hand them to Mapan and dispose them appropriately as miscellaneous items. But as one could not eat any food on the Path of Struggle, there was a time restriction… which meant that he could not sit there and smelt the low-quality metal or fashion it into sculptures or armors. As the rest of the chipped swords and cracked armors were too heavy to carry, he didn't have a choice but to leave them.

Weed giving up the spoils of battle!

What had just happened was quite akin to a nightmare.

(Continued on next part…)

Translator Notes[1] A more correct translation of the original Korean sentence would be just 'a way to clear the advanced training hall' (without the word 'alone), but I thought this could confuse some readers because we all know that there have been people who managed to clear it, so I added the word 'alone'.