NOVEL FROG Chapter 72: Flag march
A Black glass-like gate appeared in front of Zyrus. Only the 100 golden crown holders could select their starting area for the second ring.
‘Variant crowns sure are flashy,’
Zyrus walked inside the gate with a smug smile. All of the players looked at him in curiosity as he was the only one who didn’t come out from a golden portal.
“You surprised us back then,”
“Look who it is! The one and only, Sir Sparklepants,” Zyrus waved his hand at Hajin Choi. He had become even more ‘Shiny’ in the last month.
Golden crown, golden armor, golden shield and the new addition, golden shoes.
“Don’t jinx it.” Hajin was quite afraid of getting golden pants as his next reward.
Skarn and the others were there as well, but they weren’t on friendly terms with Zyrus. New players kept popping up one by one in a large hall.
Be it the native 90 players or the 9 that ascended from the first ring, everyone was awestruck when they looked around. A silver dome inlaid with gems and a red carpet that was costlier than all of their gears combined.
Spirits, elves, minotaur, and merfolk were the new races that lived in the sanctuary. There were many who didn’t get a golden crown for their race, but they had limited influence on the workings of the sanctuary.
Zyrus didn’t stand out as much among the dozens of different races.
[Welcome, leaders of the second ring]
Anansi walked out from the portal once all 100 players were gathered. He looked perfect as a host with his black tuxedo and white fedora.
[Without wasting any more of your time, let’s start with the purpose of your summoning]
All the players looked at him with serious eyes. Whether they knew the rules or not, it didn’t hurt to memorize the official information.
[Some of you are natives of the second ring, while others descended from above to undergo trials]
Anansi pointed at Zyrus’ group and added,
[These fine warriors are the ones who ascended from the first ring]
Some just scoffed in disdain while others looked at them with nonchalant eyes. Nonetheless, everyone had memorized the faces of 10 players.
[All of you have the same objective regardless of your backgrounds]
Anansi clapped his hands and 100 screens popped up in the hall.
[Flag march will commence in an hour]
Zyrus clicked on the tab just like everyone else. Not surprisingly, the details were the same as he remembered.
[March forth to claim your throne and conquer these vast lands with your flags held high]
[Select a starting area to begin your journey. All leaders will receive default flags after the selection]
[New authorities will be given based on your performance]
[There are no tiers for flags, for each one of them is unique]
[A new Ranking system has been added!]
[You will earn points based on your activity. Rewards will be given according to your ranks]
There wasn’t much written about the event. However, the words conquer and throne were enough for a hint.
No one who reached this far was stupid. They had golden crowns, but one can’t become a king with just that.
[I guess many of you are curious, but fret not, you will receive the needed information in due time. You may observe the map while I introduce the second ring to our ascended players]
Anansi waved his hand and a giant map appeared above their heads. It was a splendid sight.
Under the silver dome, the map was formed by varying glows of the gems inlaid on its surface.
Zyrus stared at Anansi with sharp eyes as the latter approached his group.
Although Anansi hated to do more work, he couldn’t refuse Zyrus. It was a players’ right to request for changes. There was no need for an administrator’s existence if the rules were absolute.
One cannot achieve balance with a rigid structure. There are always loopholes and exceptions in any rules. Different scenarios required adaptation to maintain true balance, and it was an administrator’s job to make those changes.
Zyrus nodded at Anansi and observed the map of Kyros. He had no interest in listening to his half-assed explanation.
Players and even the natives born in the second ring didn’t know the truth about this event. This was the map of the third ring's continent.
Why was it shown here then? Because they were almost the same. The second ring was a mirror dimension of the third ring.
The second ring had less mana and a lower level of existence. However, it was the key required to complete the third ring.
Kings are only appointed after both rings are merged. Of course, this referred to the kings appointed by the system. Natives didn’t have the authorities that came with the crown, flag, and throne.
Zyrus was the only one who knew this truth apart from those who descended from the third ring. Why else would those rich brats come here? It was to prove their rights to succession.
Both rings were destined to merge after a decade. The true purpose of the second ring was to set stage for that battle.
While the players from the first ring were learning from Anansi, the ones from the second and third rings were throwing daggers at one another.
Natives from the second ring naturally selected their home turf. They were living there for generations, so why would they choose another area?
Thus, they treated everyone else as invaders.
“What are those mist Zones?”
[You’ll know them if you survive in the second ring]
‘Heh, should I tell them that those are the homes of the people living in the third ring?’
Zyrus snickered at the thought. It would no doubt cause a huge commotion.
[All right, now let’s proceed with haste. Please select any area that you like]
Maybe Anansi’s sixth sense was warning him of Zyrus’s thoughts as he rushed the process. Players from the second and third ring selected their home grounds, while the ones from the first ring decided based on terrain.
Kyros continent stretched for millions of kilometers. Naturally, there were all types of terrains.
Icy mountains in the north, lush forests in the east and desert filled with underground caverns in the west. However, only elves and minotaurs managed to get a golden crown from these areas.
Spirits were the dominant species on this continent, and not surprisingly, they lived on the prosperous central area.
“I’m going south, what about you?”
“North,”
“North? But there’s no one there,” Hajin Choi looked at Zyrus with confusion. He and another sword-wielding man had selected the South because it was the most suitable for humans.
Hundreds of rivers connected the south with the ocean. This piece of land provided food for half of the continent.
It was a paradise for merchants, and humans were inferior to no one when it came to economy.
[Ahem, Off you go then!]
Anansi clapped his hands in a hurry before Zyrus could answer the question.
“Phew.. how exhausting. I must sleep for a year once this is over”
“Sure, sure, just send me to any island on the north. Ah, and let me use the market beforehand,”
“…”
“What? It’s pretty reasonable.”
“Reasonable my ass. Do you see that place on the map?”
“It’s there,” Zyrus pointed at a tiny island at the northern edge.
“I mean the place you plan to go to.”
“None of your business. Only areas in the mist are prohibited, right? I don’t see one there.”
“No bu-, you know what, fine. I’m only responsible for the areas on this map.” Anansi was struck with enlightenment just when he was about to argue.
“See, it’s a win-win for both of us,”
“Mhm. How much money do you have?”
“About 50 silvers, deduct half- no 60% of currency from those under me as well,”
“To think that the renowned void monarch was such a miser…” Anansi muttered as he opened a new tab.
“Cut the crap, how many will there be?” Zyrus shamelessly rubbed his fingers at Anansi.
“Should be 2000 coins, yours included.”
It wasn’t a big amount considering there were about 6000 players. On average they had ~50 bronze coins, 100 times less than Zyrus who had 50 silver.
However, not everyone could make a deal with an administrator and kill hordes of monsters like Zyrus. It was a decent chunk of money for a start.
“What’s the price of papyrus plants?” Zyrus asked without looking at the ‘Market.’ There was no point in looking for good stuff when he didn’t have the capital to buy them.
“Do I look like a sales assistant? Look for yourself,” Anansi waved his hand and a crude window floated towards Zyrus.
It wasn’t the original market where players could buy and sell pretty much everything. Even so, the simple version was enough for Zyrus.
[Papyrus plant x 10]
[A reed like vegetation that grows in shallow water. Some parts are edible and it has buoyant properties.]
[Height: 4-5 meters]
[Available: 100]
[Price: 5C]
On the screen was a thin plant with a foot-long stems at the top. He checked a few more offers which mostly varied in size. Some were as big as 9 meters, but he wasn’t interested in them.
‘Found it,’
Zyrus’s eyes gleamed as he read the sell order.
[Mutated Papyrus plant x 10]
[A reed like vegetation that grows in shallow water. Some parts are edible and it has buoyant properties. The plant has mutated and it possesses a high growth rate when fed with mana]
[Height: 3.5 meters]
[Available: 50]
[Price: 50 C]