Chapter 40 Witch Hunt (1)


    Arcadia, the first virtual reality game.


    Derived from top-secret projects called Six Sense and Phenopsis Dream, this technology quickly captivated many people.


    An endless unknown world.


    Hidden quests and dungeons.


    Powerful monsters and items.


    Many elements in Arcadia stimted people''s interest and adventurous spirit, but the biggest reason was separate.


    A world where the fist is stronger than thew.


    A world where power is more important than anything else.


    A strict herbal diet. Thewless world.


    Truly a tough but free world, devoid of modernws and morality. In pursuit of growth and strength and fiercepetition with others, Arcadia seduced people by stimting the basic instinct inherent in all humans.


    “You''re a thief too!”


    “Ah, I can’t hunt in the graveyard of the battlefield because of the PK criminals!”


    “Oh yea! It looked like a small rep, but the dropping items are high-end? oh my god!”


    “Can anyone help me clear the assassination quest? They say looting is allowed.”


    “Hey, I got the route through which the top of the file will pass. Are you going to attack me?”


    A world with literally infinite degrees of freedom where you can enjoy the game in any way, respecting any choice, good or evil. Here, people were enjoying the game itself, doing many evil things that they couldn''t do in reality without hesitation. And those who enjoyed the game with a good inclination did not look at these people with a kind eye.


    “uh....? hey! You are the one who killed me at the hunting ground the other day and stole my items!”


    A priest user who was wandering around the vige identally saw a user walking from a distance and hurriedly ran and grabbed him and shouted.


    “Give me my item! Do you know how stressed out I am because of you?”


    “item? what item?”


    “The ruins of the gargoyles the other day! You''re the one who killed me there! Seasoned whole chicken, do you think I can''t remember your nickname?”


    A priest who clearly remembers the nickname that killed him then. At his confident words, the user with the nickname of Seasoned Whole Chicken spoke with apletely changed attitude, as if he hadn''t shied away from it.


    “Ah... are you the one who spit out that high-end itemst time?”


    The murderer opened his eyes wide and nodded as if he had just remembered. But he said with a mean smile.


    “Have you already sold that?”


    “What what?”


    “At that time, did you earn about 1 million won? Anyway, thank you.”


    “This... you damned bastard! How did I get that!”


    The priest user cried and cried as if he couldn''t stand the anger at the fact that he had already disposed of the item. A strange situation where the perpetrator, the murderer, is more rxed than the victim. When there was amotion in the town square, a guard NPC came up to them and asked.


    “What''s up?”


    “Mr. guard! here''s this guy! He is the killer who killed me and stole my items!”


    A priest shouting in a loud voice as if exposing his crime. But at his words, the guard took one look at the killer and then blinked.


    “Um... that must have happened to someone with a bad nature.”


    “Right! This person is absolutely evil! So...”


    “But ording to Article 2, Paragraph 1 of the Continental Law, what happened outside the vige is outside our jurisdiction.”


    “yes....?”


    The priest stood there with a shocked face as if he did not understand the guard''s sullen reaction. Then the murderer cleared his ears and replied as if he was annoyed.


    “If you don''tmit PK in front of the vige or the guards, you''re saying it''s not a crime. In other words, it is true that I killed you, but since I killed you outside the vige, telling the guards is useless.”


    “Where is that!”


    yer killing (PK).


    Killing other users or NPCs in the game is one of the contents that users actively enjoy in Arcadia. Of course, there are cases where NPCs or other users are killed for unavoidable reasons due to quests, but most of them were just for fun.


    “Well... don’t take it too emotionally. I just needed the money and I killed you because you were one of the more formidable prey. From now on, don''t wander around high-level hunting grounds alone.”


    The killer winks andforts him by saying it''s just business. The priest couldn''t contain his anger and shouted at his salting.


    “hey! You bastard! Are you even human!”


    A situation where there is nothing you can do except pour out curse words in spite of evil. Hearing the priest''s words, the killer replied with a mocking smile and left.


    “If you twist it, you can PK it too.”


    “.....”


    A priest user left alone. Despite being robbed of items, he was frustrated when he realized the quite hardcore reality that there was no ce toin or help him. and promised


    “Let''s see...”


    Pudeudeuk.


    “Because I’ve raised my level so much and be so strong that one day I’ll give away more than just the items you stole.”


    Although his profession is a priest, he is a user who was born with multiple incarnations. He engraved the nickname ‘seasoned whole chicken'' in his heart and ran to the hunting ground. For the moment of revenge that will be achieved someday.


    * * *


    Arcadia is the perfect game.


    No, Arcadia is a perfect world.


    And Arcadia Co., Ltd. nned, developed, and applied numerous settings and contents to realize this perfect world as a game.


    “How did the y settings of the good and evil yers we designed go?”


    “First of all, Zen-oriented users basically easily build friendships with NPCs and have easy ess to major quests. There are also great advantages in situations such asmodity trading, negotiations, or information gathering. On the other hand, NPCs with evil tendencies are basically hostile and wary, making it difficult to ess many contents. In addition, when you die, the death penalty is increased, such as dropping items with certainty.”


    Users who y stable y tend to be good. Users who walk a tightrope aiming for a quick fortune have an evil tendency. Because of the y style that is clearly different ording to each user''s inclination, even though there are many penalties, there are more people who walk the path of viins than expected.


    “What about the bad deeds in the vige?”


    “First of all, ording to the Continental Act, NPCs’ involvement in the evil deeds of users is limited to cases of active offenders, and private retaliation by users is also prohibited in the vige.”


    “If you don''t get caught, you''re good.... That''s what I mean.”


    “To put it simply, yes.”


    The system development team is looking around to see if there are any holes in the game system that have been set up that could cause problems. But fortunately, I sighed after confirming that someone had foreseen this situation and that precautions had been prepared in advance.


    “Phew.... Thanks to the setting of that continental corporation, there will still be no cases of evil users being attacked even in the vige.”


    No matter how bad a guy is, shouldn''t he y the game? I don''t know if it''s outside the vige, but the inside of the vige should have been designated as a peace zone, so the staff of the system development team who confirmed this were able to ease their worries a little.


    “While monitoring Arfandia in real time, report any unusual issues immediately. Problematic settings need to be updated and supplemented immediately.”


    “All right.”


    A situation in which everyone moves busily while maintaining an emergency posture. However, despite their desperate efforts, a huge storm that had already begun to sprout was slowly approaching to sweep Arcadia.


    * * *


    Holy Empire Saint.


    The heart of this chosen empire, said to be blessed and loved by the gods.


    There was a report that came urgently to Eden, the holynd located there.


    “Hmm... It looks like that cruel Lich Argamer has resurrected?”


    “That''s right. An aura of death so strong that it cannot be cleansed even if dozens of high-level priests pour in their holy power. And considering the outward appearance and ability of the warlocks witnessed in the estate of the Duke of Bergen, such a possibility seems high.”


    “The Pope, if the darkness I saw...”


    “If the saintess sees it with her wisdom, it is likely to be so. It seems that it is not just a simple existence of darkness, but a huge evil that can encroach on the entire continent has resurrected.”


    Pope Amen of the Holy Empire, wearing pure white robes. He looked at the saintess with a worried expression on her face and said with a soft smile.


    “Don''t worry too much, Lady. Our gods and beings in the high heavens will not stand by as these evil beings roam the continent.”


    The saintess'' face softened a little thanks to his strong constion, which was soft but firm in his trust. And she responded with a bright smile on her face.


    “....sure. I will also pray to God to defeat the wicked evil.”


    “ha ha ha. sure. God is always listening to the saintess'' prayers.”


    A young woman who is still young. Amen eased her mind and looked down at the priest prostrated in front of him.


    “We have brought about peace on the continent, but the world is still full of lingering evil forces.”


    His voice was full of coldness when he spoke to the saintess. In a tone full of contempt, he began to rebuke the ugly nature of humans and the evil that resulted from them.


    “So many humans have shed blood in the past, but the continent is still full of people who voluntarily walk down the ugly path of evil instead of reflecting on it. The smell of that filthy evil stings my nose every day.”


    “I have no face. The church''s pdins and priests always do their best to judge the wicked and make them walk the path of atonement and repentance, but it''s still not enough.”


    Holy Land Eden of St. Empire. Bishop-level priests and the highest-ranking holy knights resided there. Pope Amen looked around at them all and continued the story.


    “Until now, we have been patiently waiting for stupid people to realize and repent for themselves, but in the end, these evil groups have started to disturb the continent again. My dear brothers and sisters.”


    “Yes, His Holiness the Pope.”


    The highest-ranking priests and holy knights all bowed down to his words. After a moment of waiting, Pope Amen dered with a cold, dispassionate look.


    “The time hase, the moment when we muste forward and condemn and judge all these evils before the evil forces of evil devour the entire continent.”


    war against evil.


    Then he unfolded a piece of parchment in front of him, wrote something with a white quill pen, and pressed down the seal he was wearing on his finger.


    “Preach to all kingdoms and empires. I proim with the authority vested in me, the Pope of the Holy Empire.”


    St. Empire, which is called a typical example of strength.


    “Everyone, do everything in your power to cooperate in finding out and judging all the evil that exists on this earth.”


    They started not hiding their power.