novelraw Chapter 85.1: Qualification of a God (1)
Chapter 85.1: Qualification of a God (1)
Translator: Dreamscribe
The events of the Grand Festival were endless.
Jinwoo really granted everything the Heroes wished for.
In cases of slightly excessive promises, he used the format of events to implement them on a time basis. Animal or monster transformation potions were examples of this.
No, if you fulfill everything like this, what about the next festival?
We’re not just doing one festival, right?
There were Heroes who asked this, but Jinwoo didn’t care at all. That was a problem to think about later.
The future Archmage will figure it out!
Having resolved most of the promises during the Grand Festival period, Jinwoo began to fully enjoy the festival. The excitement of the popularity poll was hotter than expected, so the result announcement was postponed to the last day of the Grand Festival.
Thanks to that, the people of Arsilan participated even more actively and showcased their charms to the fullest.
There was another reason why the competition intensified.
'Hmm, it wouldn't be bad to give titles to those who rank in the top 10, just like the heroes?'
With the response being this good, it felt like a waste to just announce the results. As Jinwoo was thinking this and creating titles and icons, Tia happened to witness it.
“Wow! Is that the reward?”
“I’m still thinking. Since we did a popularity poll, I thought we should display the results properly.”
“That’s amazing! I think it could be even flashier.”
“Really?”
Seeing Tia’s reaction, he felt even more motivated and put effort into properly designing them.
From 1st to 3rd place: gold crown, silver crown, bronze crown.
From 4th to 6th place: gold medal, silver medal, bronze medal.
From 7th to 10th place: replaced with flowers.
He quickly mobilized FS Games’ art team to make them as flashy as possible. He even added effects that would activate when equipping the title.
Jinwoo displayed the completed titles and icons at the center of Solis. The news quickly spread, and many Arsilan people came to see.
"What, is there really something that amazing..."
Helby pretended not to care and came over sneakily, but the moment she saw the crown icons and titles, she froze. She couldn’t take her eyes off them for a while.
“Golden crown...”
Petals shimmering in golden light fluttered around it. Greed flickered in her eyes for the first time in a while. Helby nodded and looked around.
Then she spotted the newbie Heroes.
The newbie Heroes were moving around together, enjoying the Grand Festival.
“You guys.”
“Huh? Uh, uh? H-Helby nim?”
As Helby glared, the newbie Heroes flinched from the pressure. The corners of Helby’s lips twitched and trembled. She was trying her best to put on a kind smile.
“Did you vote?”
When she asked,
“Vote? Do we do it like this?”
“I’ll do it right away!”
"Wow! First time trying this!"
The newbie Heroes took out a festival coin and voted immediately.
“Mm, hmm.”
Helby looked at the newbie Heroes. They were wearing kindergarten hats and had expressions like they didn’t know anything.
Something poked at one side of Helby's heart.
“...Follow me.”
“Yes!”
“Whoa!”
Helby took the newbie Heroes and helped them enjoy the Grand Festival properly.
The people of Arsilan were all fired up with enthusiasm, and so were the Heroes. As Shining Prince Leon Protection Alliance and the Helby Lovers Group began clashing in earnest, even the cleric faction called Saintess Airi's Guardians made their appearance. They went around the city campaigning as if it were an election.
Although this competition hadn’t been planned, it created quite an entertaining spectacle.
Heroes gathered around an obstacle course above the swimming pool and split into two sides. Wearing swimsuits and holding toy swords and hammers, they glared at each other.
Heroes with SPL written on their faces raised their weapons. (TL Note: SPL = Shining Prince Leon)
[The Thrilling Shark Food Battle Tournament has begun! Bet your Festival Coins and become the final winner!]
[SPL (Large Party) has wagered 500 Festival Coins!]
“The only noble being worthy of 1st place is His Highness Leon!”
“For our King!”
Heroes with horns on their heads glared menacingly at the SPL Heroes.
[Helby Lovers Association (Large Party) has wagered 500 Festival Coins!]
“Let us offer the golden crown to our guardian dragon!”
“Kill them all!”
Both sides clashed atop the obstacle course.
Weapons were not allowed, but Skills could be used. When a toy hammer was swung, several Heroes bounced off and fell into the swimming pool. A swarm of sharks charged in as if they had been waiting and devoured them.
[Saintess Airi's Guardians (Guild) has ambushed the match, wagering 1,500 Festival Coins!]
“Wipe them all out!”
Amidst such clashes, priests and holy knights appeared and joined the battle.
Even during the Grand Festival, Heroes were tasting the thrill of blood.
“Wow! The flower icon is so pretty.”
Airi, who was in a close battle with Helby for 2nd place in the current rankings, had no greed at all. Everything was simply enjoyable to her.
The Grand Festival received endless praise.
Everywhere was full of people and overflowing with energy. The shops opened by Heroes became content in themselves, and the people of Arsilan enjoyed it together.
That joyful festival was also approaching its end. Once the festival ended, the server was scheduled to go into maintenance for a day.
In Evanth, performances continued from morning to evening.
Fortunately, Romantic Bard had been banned and couldn’t get on stage. HJ Entertainment’s trainees delivered an outstanding debut performance and received a strong response.
By evening, nearly all the Heroes had gathered in Evanth. From around the stage to the fields outside Evanth, the area was packed with Heroes. A massive screen floated above Evanth so that all the Heroes could comfortably watch the stage.
Finally, the popularity poll results began to be announced. Just as Kim Seok-jun from the news station had hosted the Evanth performances until now, he also hosted the announcement of the popularity poll results.
From rank 50 to 10, the results were announced quickly. Starting from 10th place, each ranked Arsilan person came up on stage to give a thank-you speech.
Tia placed 5th, and Heina came in 4th.
Heina had become the center of attention after her ranking rapidly rose when she wore the swimsuit gifted by Haebyul.
“That’s cheating! I can’t believe you were hiding something that amazing!”
“H-Hmph! I wasn’t exactly hiding it.”
Heina, who had completely released her seal, was overwhelming.
[3rd place goes to! Saintess Airi nim!]
Airi came up on stage, brightly smiling and waving. At her sight, Kim Seok-jun momentarily couldn’t speak.
Finally, there was the 1st place announcement. Jinwoo and Helby came up on stage at the same time.
[1st place is....]
Kim Seok-jun delayed for a moment before announcing the result.
[1st place is His Highness Leon!]
Helby had put up a good fight, but it was still difficult to surpass the popularity Leon had built up until now. Still, she had chased him to right under his nose.
Jinwoo smiled and looked at Helby.
“2nd place is great too.”
“Kuh!”
When Jinwoo consoled her, Helby tightly shut her eyes.
Helby stepped forward first, looked out at the Heroes, and opened her mouth.
“Well done.”
After saying that, she turned around coolly as if she had no regrets at all, but the many poses she had made were already permanently preserved in Arsilan Worlds. They were even being turned into merchandise.
Jinwoo looked out at the Heroes from the stage.
“Thank you. I’ll take this as a message to work even harder and continue to devote myself to Arsilan.”
At Jinwoo’s words, the Heroes responded with cheers and applause.
Kim Seok-jun entrusted the finale of the Grand Festival to Jinwoo. Just as Jinwoo had signaled the start of the Grand Festival, he now signaled its end as well.
“Did you enjoy yourselves?”
“Yes!”
“Very much!”
“It was the best festival of my life!”
The Heroes’ words overlapped and turned into a chorus of cheers.
Jinwoo smiled brightly. No matter what gift he brought to these Heroes who had saved Arsilan, it would never be enough.
Seeing the Heroes happy and enjoying themselves, Jinwoo could smile too.
“It’s time to end the Grand Festival. But don’t be too sad. Every year, we will hold a grand festival to commemorate our victory in the Great War. I hope next year, even more Heroes can join us in this joy.”
The Heroes sang the Song of Return.
Even the newbie Heroes awkwardly sang along and enjoyed it.
Jinwoo listened to that song until the end, then bowed toward the Heroes.
“We will now conclude the Arsilan Grand Festival! Thank you!”
The Grand Festival that had lasted for two weeks came to an end.
[The server has been shut down.]
As soon as that kind of system window popped up, all Heroes were disconnected.
The Heroes who had enjoyed the Grand Festival and returned to reality removed their Soul Links.
“Uh…”
The room was quiet and still.
When the cheers and laughter that had been heard anytime and anywhere disappeared, their hearts felt empty. They had been surrounded by heroes everywhere, but now they were alone. They felt like sitting alone in the audience seats after a performance had ended.
Unable to bear the emptiness in a corner of his heart, he hurriedly got dressed. When he took the elevator down, he found quite a few people around who were just like him.
Their eyes met.
“You’re a Hero, right?”
“You too?”
The Heroes couldn’t help but laugh.
“That was really fun.”
“Yeah. Ugh! I have to go to work in the morning. I used up all my vacation.”
“Haha…”
As they chatted about this and that, more people gathered.
In the past, something like this would never have happened. But now, everyone here was a Hero and a citizen of the Kingdom of Sillion, so they quickly became close.
“But, what do you think the next update will be?”
“Who knows. Is there even anything more to come?”
The Heroes were concerned about the Creator God and FS Games.
“Maybe we should lower our expectations a bit.”
“Yeah. It’s not like they can top the Great War…”
“Feel bad for the newbies.”
“Haha! Exactly.”
That’s what they were saying.
People on Arsilan Worlds were saying the same.
‘The Grand Festival was wrapped up perfectly.’
‘Episode 3 is probably going to be a breather story?’
‘Yeah yeah, that’s fine.’
What really is next?
What kind of update is waiting?
‘Honestly not expecting anything.’
‘For real ㅋㅋ Nothing more to add.’
Even as they posted things like that, deep down they were secretly looking forward to it. A strange situation where they tried to lower their expectations to avoid disappointment, while secretly hoping anyway.
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