Lord of the Myriad Worlds

Chapter 176: A Sudden Reversal

When the explanation was done, Ron and Hathaway fell silent — the kind of silence that comes after something shatters. The weight of it pressed down on them, and even George couldn't help but feel a quiet ache of sympathy.

He had no idea what to say. Missing the Rookie King title was something he could live with — he'd always had a stable enough temperament for that. But these two? How many times had they failed at a Four-Star Lord Mission now?

"Ron, can you explain the specifics? I refuse to believe headquarters has no sort of emergency failsafe built in."

George pressed, turning to Ron, who seemed marginally more composed.

Ron exhaled slowly. "First, you have to understand the fundamental purpose behind these Rookie storylines. Headquarters designed them to serve three groups at once — kill three birds with one stone, as it were. Do you follow?"

"Developing Rookies, continuing the development of veteran players, and handing out rewards for the core contributors — all three running in parallel. No one group gets to monopolize anything. That's the premise."

"Under normal circumstances, these ten Rookie Missions run once every three years — sometimes five years if things stretch. Sometimes they can't even fill ten groups, and it starts with eight or five."

"In theory, the ten groups compete against each other in the early stages — they thin each other out. Plot Kills serve that function. In the middle stage, they converge on Kakh City and trigger the Snow Mountain storyline. In the final stage, everyone fights for Kakh City, and the strongest one becomes its new lord."

"That's the design template — a grand melee. You didn't actually think your little group of five got exclusive access to the Snow Mountain storyline and Kakh City, did you?"

"That would be obscenely wasteful. The Snow Mountain and Kakh City storylines belong to all ten Rookie groups — they share them. Otherwise, if every group had a completely unique storyline, how would you even rank them on the same leaderboard? How would anyone accept the results? 'Oh, you scored 59 in math — that makes you better than my 58 in English?' You started in paradise; I started in the Sahara. Does that seem fair?""But there are always complications. My case, for instance — I was originally supposed to go to Joffrey's camp. My subordinate Carson was playing the role of Joffrey's father, setting everything up in advance. It was basically the same role Old John played before he left your camp — he laid all the groundwork, just waiting for me to be 'reborn' into that world, seize control, gain influence, and then face off against Hathaway in the final showdown at Kakh City — her in the north, me in the south. That was the original design. Do you understand?"

"But Joffrey's camp was airtight. Water couldn't get in. His camp was doing incredibly well, but every slot was filled — there was no opening for me to be born into. Meanwhile, you were looking more and more like you might actually pull off a miracle, so the head of our logistics division went to Night Owl and argued his case until she agreed to squeeze me into your group instead. You thought that Three-Star War Bow was just Ron doing you a favor? It wasn't — Night Owl asked for it on your behalf. That was your compensation."

"Under normal circumstances, you'd never know any of this. We just had to kill the Mad Baron, kill the Grand Witch, you'd kill the black-robed witch, and we'd all go home. Simple. Joffrey's camp could keep doing its self-sufficient thing — as long as they stayed quiet, the Blood Ravens wouldn't spot them, and after three years or whenever they hit the settlement threshold, the mission would wrap itself up. The guy would've been happy with second place on the Rookie List."

"But the world just had to go and be uncooperative. The natives aren't NPCs — Victor Town's caravan absolutely found that camp. Or maybe Joffrey's people had some sudden bright idea to go explore outside — just like your sister Penny. And they crossed paths with the caravan. The caravan got delayed, the location got exposed — and that is the truth, without question."

"As for the emergency failsafe you asked about — of course it exists!"

"Centuries of lessons are on the books. If a Rookie dies, a veteran player fills the slot by the end of the following month. Add in Plot Kills on top of that — that's the first line of defense! Wolves, bears, wild boars, leopards, venomous snakes — convenient little 'accidents' that have always been enough."

"Then veteran players arrive carrying Title Tasks. The moment a Title Task is completed, it immediately triggers a mandatory settlement — that's the second line of defense."

"Even if a veteran player gets sniped, their task suppressed, their Title Task impossible to complete — once their six-month window expires and they leave, a mandatory settlement still triggers. Third line of defense."

"And finally, if something like Old John's situation occurs and a Divergence storyline is triggered, that also triggers a settlement by month's end. Fourth line of defense. These four settlement methods are officially registered with the deities of this world."

"With those four lines of defense in place, Rookie Missions almost never run into serious problems."

"But talent shows up every year — and this year it's showing up in spades. Joffrey is exceptionally capable. Unlike you, he entered the mission world alongside his mother Katherine and his sister Anna — which means from the very beginning, he analyzed the story logic and figured out the rules. He found ways to impress his father Dave so thoroughly that Dave sang his praises constantly. If you saw a promising new player, wouldn't you quietly support them?"

"Anyway, Joffrey's camp in the early stages was simply untouchable. Building houses, logging, farming, fishing, hunting, setting traps, making weapons — everything ran like clockwork, efficiently and effectively. And in his very first month, he discovered the method for maxing out affinity ratings. He used the same approach Hathaway used on you — grinding every tiny detail of his relationships to maximum closeness. Once any relationship maxes out, other players can easily trigger a Bad End — no excuse, however good, will save them."

"So after his mother Katherine and sister Anna were each forced into a Bad End once, they became completely obedient from that point on — following Joffrey's every word, too afraid to resist. They didn't even understand why it had happened."

"And so, as the camp leveled up to Level 2 and the fourth Rookie arrived — Joffrey's fiancée — it was obvious she'd be a pushover. He brought her under control without effort."

"Later, that woman even had his child — filling another player slot. When Anna's fiancé arrived, the six of them locked down every ecological niche. They farmed, fished, hunted, and built every day. Joffrey was a polymath — he knew astronomy, he knew geology, he found iron deposits, coal deposits, and even extracted salt from a rock face. They were completely self-sufficient without needing any outside contact. Their crops — Three-Star quality wheat — they just sold it and raked in money. Zero motivation to open trade routes. Zero contact with the outside world. Naturally, the Three Mountain Witches never found them." Ron paused, expression twisting, then couldn't help muttering a curse under his breath.

George had already pieced it all together. Without any player joining from the outside, how do you process the settlement? Draft new rules on the spot? Too late for that — and you'd hardly bother going up the chain of command over something so minor, would you?

That's why Ron — originally supposed to go to Joffrey's camp — had been forced into his instead. No wonder it had all felt so off. Ron this strong, Hathaway this powerful, thrown together in the same place.

Was this supposed to be a reward for veterans?

It felt more like forcing veterans to tear each other apart right from the starting line.

And especially that time a while back — two department heads had personally come to speak with him, a mere second-place Rookie. All that cryptic talk that never quite made sense. Was this really appropriate behavior?

Now the root of all of it was clear.

"Anyway, last winter — while Thomas was working himself to the bone quarrying stone to build your walls — Joffrey's family was sitting in their warm house, singing songs, dancing, and rolling around in bed sheets. Living an extremely cozy life."

"They had no weak points. They wiped out the wolf pack with traps, killed the spring bear with a bigger trap — zero casualties. They were growing Three-Star wheat and selling it by the cartload. They had no incentive whatsoever to establish trade routes, no contact with the outside world, and so the Three Mountain Witches never once detected them."

"By the time your walls went up and you leveled to a Level 4 Camp, Joffrey had only just started building his own — and it was much smaller. He entered Level 4 just three months ago, which is actually fast. Headquarters sent over two veteran players in a panic, loaded them up with Conspiracy Cards — free of charge — and begged them to stir up internal conflict, to push certain Rookies out the door. Every attempt was crushed under Joffrey's thumb."

"Since his camp is still at Two-Star difficulty, Four-Star Conspiracy Cards can't be used there, and I can't be reborn into it directly either. There are things relating to the deities that simply can't be spoken aloud. Fortunately, after all that trouble, Joffrey finally recognized where his camp was falling short. Right now he's probably busy helping those two veteran players build a One-Star Tavern. If everything goes on schedule, it'll be finished by month's end." Ron paused. "And then Victor Town's caravan went and destroyed everything."

Hearing all of this, George felt the headache spreading. Still, he offered a suggestion:

"Is there any way we could help Joffrey hold his camp? Or at the very least, use them as bait and take out one of the Final Bosses while the enemy is distracted — chip away at their strength as much as possible?"

Ron looked at him like he'd just said the dumbest thing imaginable.

"Help them? On what grounds? Do you have any idea how insane that idea is? Right now the enemy has the Blood Ravens — the black-robed witch's birds practically own the skies. They relay information faster than a telegraph. The moment we try to help Joffrey defend his camp, the enemy will wheel around and hit Victor Town and our own camp in a heartbeat. What's your counter to that?"

"There is no counter. This problem has no solution."

"Not necessarily — there is a way. But it requires getting Penny safely to Joffrey's camp. She still has a Settlement Card. If she triggers the settlement at Joffrey's camp without being locked onto by the Blood Ravens, headquarters won't be stupid enough to miss the chance to force a settlement for Joffrey's group."

Hathaway spoke up suddenly.

"Impossible. Joffrey's camp is definitely under heavy surveillance already. The Mad Baron's army will march south any day now. In that environment, how is Penny — who is, let's be honest, completely useless in a fight — supposed to slip past the Blood Ravens' watch and reach Joffrey? Absolutely out of the question."

Ron shut it down immediately.

This time, even Hathaway fell silent. George ran the numbers himself and reached the same conclusion. He personally had a Settlement Card — he could theoretically sneak over there. But why on earth would he sacrifice himself to save Joffrey's group?

"I say we use this window to just build the Temple. That way we can recruit refugees, keep leveling up, and if it comes to it — we fight a brutal siege defense. We hold until we can't hold anymore."

George suggested, falling back on his usual approach: feet on the ground, grind it out.

But Ron and Hathaway both turned to look at him at the same moment — each of them wearing an expression that said they'd just had the exact same brilliant idea.

"Forget it. I still have a Rookie King title to fight for, and I am not throwing my life away." George refused instantly. Was he that easy to manipulate? Absolutely not.

"What if what we're offering is worth at least as much as the Rookie King title?"

Hathaway was still pressing.

"Still no. I'm not an idiot. Do you have any idea how dangerous this is? Why don't you send your Four-Star Hunter Little John? He's leagues above me." George shook his head — back and forth, back and forth, completely unmoved.

Hathaway let out a bitter laugh and dropped it. She couldn't argue with that logic. It really was asking a lot.

"Fine. Fallback plan then — let's work together to finish the One-Star Temple. Ideally before month's end. Let's get moving."

"And when the Level 2 Priest wakes up, maybe he'll surprise us."

"Let's hope."