The Legendary Moonlight Sculptor

The Lord of Morata

Yoon Na-hee was buoyant with expectation. "It's an opportunity to meet with him in person."

A meeting with Lee Hyun!

They couldn't make a contract with just three phone calls, so this time she was going to take the contract form herself after making an appointment.

Even though she was an employee at the level of working in a President's secretary office, she had never met someone who had made as strong of an impression as Lee Hyun had. Simply thinking of Lee Hyun was enough to make her heart tremble.

"He is someone who thinks of 3 billion (~3 million dollars) as chump change on the street."

In their first phone call, he had brusquely hung up even when he was told his account had been auctioned at a sum of 3 billion, 9 million Won.

Wasn’t he truly the ideal specimen of a man that Yoon Na-hee had always dreamt of?! She still couldn’t forget the refreshing shock she’d gotten then.

They had shared short conversations together as she took charge of the casting for the 8 Heroes program as well. At that time, Lee Hyun's level had only been 219. Yoon Na-hee was a player of Royal Road as well, and she had actually been at a higher level than him.

But even making light of him lasted for only a moment. The True Blood Vampire quest, the quest with the Immortal Legion battle, hunting the Bone Dragon, and even seizing the Embinyu Fortress!

Yoon Na-hee only saw him through the videos of another broadcaster — the manly, so very dashing sight of him commanding all the Orcs and Dark Elves as the Orc Karichwi! She was such an avid fan that she printed out an enlarged picture of Orc Karichwi and pasted it on her wall.

"Hmm, would it be okay to call him out of the blue?"

Yoon Na-hee abruptly decided to call him offhandedly. She did so because her position in the President's secretary office and looks of her caliber made her welcome to anyone and everyone. However, once she was actually about to have a phone call with Lee Hyun, she was so nervous that it was hard to speak.

Yoon Na-hee prepared herself and dialed in Lee Hyun's phone number. The receiver picked up the call before the bell rang twice.

Click!

"Hello, this is Yoon Na-hee. You remember me, right?"

She began speaking with an intimate, yet meltingly honeyed voice. She worried for a moment about what she would do if the person on the other end wasn't Lee Hyun, but fortunately it was the right person.

- Who is it?

Lee Hyun's curt voice came through the call. The already tense Yoon Na-hee could not help but be overwhelmed.

"That, I am Yoon Na-hee."

Since this was their third call, there was an understanding that he would at least remember her name.

- So what?

"......"

- I'm busy so please don't keep calling.

— Beeeeeeeep —

Lee Hyun had hung up.

* * *

On the hill where Weed had sculpted the Tower of Light in the past, was crowded with visitors even in broad daylight. There were tourists who were looking at the Tower of Light, while going as far as to wait for the evening to come. There were several sculptures Weed had made on the hill, and beginner Sculptors also brandished their skills to make works of art in the empty spaces.

It was worthy of being called an excellent sculpture park. This hill had already become quite famous in the Versailles Continent as the Light Park. Moreover, a fabulous view of Morata village and the Lord's Castle could be seen from the hill! The pretty buildings and the Goddess Freya Statue were visible from above.

Weed went up to that place with Yellowy.

"It's the Lord of Morata."

"Lord? Then he's the Sculptor who sculpted the Tower of Light."

"It's the Wargod Weed."

As Weed went up the hill, the tourists who recognized him shouted out. Weed went right past them, took a position on the hill of sculptures, and pulled out his sculpting knife.

'I have to make something necessary for the quest.'

He had felt his limitations even while doing the Alliance of the Deliverer quest. His stats were higher than others because he was a Sculptor, but his fighting ability fell somewhat short. Even if he were to make up for it with Sculpting Blade or other skills, he was in a shaky situation considering the quest he had in front of him.

'I can't even use the Power of the Deliverer anymore, and if another enemy like Balkan or the King Hydra shows up, I'll lose for sure.'

It was a battle Weed had used all his cards to fight in. He had entirely used up the Power of the Deliverer that had been in the wand, and the Copper Plate of Rest's durability had fallen, so he couldn't issue the Sentence of Death. He had to complete the 2nd and 3rd steps of the quest as well, but all his cards were exhausted.

He had suffered to death completing the 1st step of the S difficulty quest, so there would be nothing more mortifying than failing the 2nd and 3rd steps.

Slice, slice.

Rocks were cut with every movement of the sculpting knife.

There were many sculptures Weed had thought of making. The Church of Freya did not shun other religions. Therefore, he was planning on making a statue of the God of Lugh, who matched well with Freya. The Church of Lugh revered brightness and was the natural enemy of monsters that attacked under the cover of darkness. It wouldn't be bad to have an Idol of Lugh, even if only to improve public security.

[T/N: Lugh is pronounced as "Lu", he is the Celtic hero of the Sun God.]

'Durability has to be good for a huge statue, so I've gotta make the foundation with stone.'

Weed quickly cut the rock that would become the sculpture's foundation. A sculpture similar in size to the Tower of Light was being made! Statues of Lugh were set up all across the Versailles Continent. Lugh wasn't vague in appearance like Goddess Freya, so it did not take long to sculpt.

"The really important part starts from this moment onwards."

Weed took a deep breath. The materials were so precious that they made him bead up with cold sweat, but an investment in the sculpture was necessary.

He was at Advanced Sculpting 6. If he made just a few more sculptures, he would soon reach level 7.

"It's really a shame, but…"

Weed sorted the metal fragments he had acquired at the Embinyu Fortress. Excluding the blacksmithing materials with high solidity, he melted the broken metal shards.

"Aahhh, precious things..."

Glowing yellow, the molten gold was completed.

When a Blacksmith improved their skill, they could paint on a thin layer of gold. In technical terms, gilt!

"I won't even be able to paint half of it with this much…" Even after melting all the metal shards in Weed's possession, it was slightly insufficient to paint the entirety of the huge statue. "Should I try mixing in a few impurities?"

Weed shook his head. It would deal a blow to the sculpture if the gold's purity was lowered.

"The gold has to be 24k no matter what."

Weed melted in the ancient gold coins and the gold bars he had acquired from hunting.

"Aaahh, these precious things."

Every time he stirred with a rod, the molten gold was mixed as it let off an indescribable luster. For Weed, who had only ever stirred watery soup, it was a luxury among luxuries.

The tourists couldn't repress their astonishment.

"Is Sculptor Weed making an enormous statue right now?"

"It looks like he's gonna cover it all in gold."

They were curious about how the idol of Lugh would turn out. That was the way things were; no matter what it was, the expectant mentality would amplify right before something was finished.

As it was Weed, the tourists kept on increasing.

"How much tax did he scrape from Morata to be able to invest in a sculpture like that?"

"As expected, Lords must have a ton of money."

"I'm telling you, they're all scammers and thieves. How much money do you think he earned as players gathered in the North?"

There was even the appearance of those who saw him as a millionaire and envied him. However, Weed's fame was enormous.

"Do not criticize our Lord!"

"That's right, our Lord is maintaining a really low tax rate."

"He's the one who emptied his own pockets to make sculptures and raise buildings in the ruin that was once Morata. To such an awesome Lord…"

"You don't even know the reason why he was trying to squeeze out every last Copper when he was selling goods to everyone in the market, right? Sob, sob!"

The female beginners who saw him as kind even showed tears at the criticism directed at Weed as they defended him.

"He's trying to get just one more Copper to invest it in Morata. All for our sakes!"

The players who defended him while calling him a living saint; an excellent Lord who treasured his residents and players!

Weed was so taut with tension that he couldn't even give a shit about the the tourists' dispute.

"I can't spill even a single drop."

He poured all his attention into the business of gold gilding.

He had a background of papering the walls in his house since he was little. They had lasted a winter by pasting the newspapers left from his delivery onto the walls, layer by layer.

"Papering must be done quickly! It absolutely must not overlap. It'll be tough if there are bumpy raised parts or crooked portions."

He revived the experience of papering to perform the gilding. Of course, there was a considerable difference between the two. In gilding, gold had to be spread thinly and brushed on, so it had a far greater difficulty.

However, he received assistance from his skills to make up for what he was lacking. He had shitty drawing ability, but thanks to raising his Drawing skill beforehand, there was even a slight effect on his brushing.

At last, the head part was all painted on, and the idol of Lugh's head reflected the sunshine, sparkling golden. He put in blue jewels for the eyes. They were azure eyes gazing far into the distance on a golden head that looked like it would sparkle away at any moment.

The statue of the proud Sun God was being made steadily from the head down.

"Oooh."

"It's so cool."

The sight of the statue being completed was broadcasted real-time on the Internet through the tourists. The golden idol of Lugh made by Weed!

It was completed with a majestic appearance and was even holding a huge bow and arrows. For a normal Sculptor, it would have been too daunting to make just the idol, but Weed had a history of making huge sculptures now. He had kept some spare materials on hand, even when making such a large sculpture, and had even sculpted Lu’s equipment.

Ding!

He had succeeded in making a religious sculpture!

There was only about 17% until Weed's Sculpting skill proficiency reached level 7.

"A magnum opus or two should be enough."

Sculpting growth became slower the more it grew, but the situation was more than enough to make him ambitious. However, since he had sculpted Goddess Freya and the Idol of Lugh, he couldn't make other sculptures of Gods that didn't align well.

"This is enough for a huge stone sculpture."

An idol of Night, the Thief, or the Barbarian would took a long time to sculpt, and they didn't fit Morata. If he sculpted an idol for Thieves that ended up making the public safety fall and increasing the number of Thieves, it would inevitably be a big problem. An idol of the Barbarian was also out since their robust physiques scared residents unless it was a place where individuals of the Barbarian race lived.

"It doesn't matter. There's lots of things to sculpt."

Weed reversed his grip on the sculpting knife. Since many tourists were gathering to look at the Idol of Lugh, it was now time to cook before it got too late.

* * *

"Weed is the Lord of Morata!"

Among the players who enjoyed hunting and adventuring in Morata, a considerable number of the hunting parties had a great interest in Weed. They had come to the North from the Central of the Continent for stronger monsters and quests.

Tourists or beginners, who had just started, did not care much about the Wargod Weed. They knew Weed was a famous person, but they didn't have much interest in him.

However, for warriors, Weed was a subject of respect or a rival they wanted to overcome.

"Let's go see Weed."

"Do you happen to know where Weed is?"

The news got out early, but they were late to return because they had gone out on an expedition in a hunting ground that was quite far away, even for the North. A fighting party that had just returned from the hunting ground asked around about Weed's whereabouts in the village.

There was a Merchant who knew about Weed.

"Lord Weed?"

"Yes, that Weed."

"Ah, so you came to sightsee. He is making a sculpture on the rocky mountain over there."

"A sculpture?"

"Yes, it's an extremely time consuming and tedious process, so try going over there the day after tomorrow if you can."

At the Merchant's words, the Warrior, Hon, tilted his head. "He's making a sculpture?"

The Paladin, Billeo, replied in a slightly tense voice. "There is talk that his profession is a Sculptor."

"I heard that the Lord of Morata was a Sculptor too. But him being a Sculptor is ridiculous. At least, the Weed we saw didn't have such a personality."

They had died quite a few times at the hands of Weed in the Continent of Magic. Of course, their levels in the Continent of Magic had been a little over the medium range, so they could at least keep up when fighting with their guild.

The sight of Weed, who had slaughtered enemies with unparalleled efficiency!

Hon spoke in disbelief. "To say he's a Sculptor… unlike the rumors, maybe he's not Wargod Weed?"

The Warrior, Garrick, stepped forward first. "We'll know when we see him. Isn't it useless for us to be talking here like this?"

A hunting party of 7, including Hon, Billeo, and Garrick, left for the rocky mountain.

It was a party that gathered the players at the peak of even Morata! Even the Cleric's level was over 300, and his robes fluttered as he ran.

They had been in Morata for quite a while, so they knew easily the location of the rocky mountain where the sculptures were. Since the Tower of Light was there, even they always went there when they came to Morata.

"For the Lord of the village that we have been using as a base to be the Wargod Weed, it's really above our imaginations."

"More than that, for us to have hunted while looking at sculptures he made, should we be thankful or something?"

It was as confusing as being smashed by a blunt weapon from afar.

There were many tourists and beginner players on the road towards the rocky mountain. The beginner players were moving towards the mountain with laughter blossoming on their faces!

"Wow, this is really the best."

"Man, it was a really, really good idea to start in Morata. It's probably just us who can hunt while looking at sculptures such as these."

They could fully understand the beginner players' feelings. The village Hon had started in, was a desolate mining town. He had purposefully chosen the sparse mining town in order to grow faster than others. He did go to a big city later, but even there, he had no real memories of seeing artworks. After hearing the rumor that the Pyramid sculpture had been made in the Rosenheim Kingdom, he had even been a little jealous. For beginners who had lots of insufficiencies, how great of a help would it have been to have the awe of the sculptures at their backs?

"The Tower of Light alone is incredible."

The party, which included Hon, followed behind the procession that was climbing up the rocky mountain. There were many people going up the mountain, and it just happened to be when the sun was about to set. Since the Tower of Light at night could be called the king of specialties, players in Morata never failed to seek it. Magicians didn't stand in line and used flying magic to soar past and incite envy.

Garrick suggested, "Why don't we also fly instead of going like this?"

"Shall we?"

The Magician Easton cast flying magic and the party members floated into midair. At that, players swarmed over.

"Magician sir, can't you give me a little flying magic too?"

"Please float us up too! Magician sir, we beg you."

"Magician sir!"

Easton became popular with flying magic alone. His popularity was no less than a famous celebrities'! Seeing that countless players had gathered around Easton from midair, Hon nodded.

"We'll be going first." They had cleanly given up on Easton. "He'll probably come after us on his own, since he's a Magician."

The party members went up the mountain in midair with the flying magic.

Besides the Tower of Light, yet another enormous sculpture had been completed on the rocky mountain.

One of the party members, a Cleric of Lugh named Hines, couldn't hold back his deeply touched feelings.

"An idol of Lugh is here..."

The sculpture's effects!

Because of the effect that greatly increased Faith and holy magic, Hines' hunting efficiency in Morata would greatly improve. Clerics of the Church of Freya were already enjoying this benefit. Using blessings or healing magic around the Goddess Statue increased the effect to far greater than normal.

The Goddess Freya Party, the League of Male Priests, the Guild of Abundance. It was enough to make many related guilds and parties form within Morata.

"Lots of Lugh Clerics will be coming to Morata."

If the number of Clerics and Paladins increased, it wouldn't be long until a formal temple was erected.

"Where is Weed?"

Hon scanned the vicinity of the Tower of Light. On top of being the shadowy night, there were so many visitors or Morata players that it was hard to distinguish anything.

Billeo pointed his finger over in a direction.

"Isn't he over there?"

Oddly enough, only a place where people were standing in line to eat something was lit up with torchlight.

"Let's go see for now."

Billeo, Hon, and the others flew through the sky and landed there.

A large banner showing food menus was hung up in an eye-catching place.

"Just look at that."

"Huh?"

"Whoa!"

Extravagant as prices may be, but the contents of the menu was what threw the party into shock.

"Come, come! It's cheap, cheap! Everyone, you have never eaten meat like this. Dragon meat! This is a spicy soup made with Dragon meat. "

They heard the words of the chef who was advertising.

"But it's too expensive."

"Still, when will you get to eat meat like this?"

"Yeah, it's killer 'cause it's a frickin' Dragon soup. Right?"

Customers were standing in line to receive the cooking. There were no tables so it was a substandard business that ladled soup into bowls brought by the customers.

"Could Weed really be here?"

Hon shook his head to and fro, but unfortunately that speculation was the truth. After Billeo asked some customers waiting in line, he had told them the truth.

"They say that the chef is Weed."

"Wargod… Weed?"

"I dunno about that, but he's Morata's Lord Weed."

"Are you sure?"

"There’s a lot of people who knows about Weed."

The residents of Morata had been employed as labor for making the enormous sculpture called the Goddess of Freya. If you put it in good terms, they had participated in the quest, and, because of that, Weed's face was well known.

"He was supposed to be making a sculpture, so why the food?"

"Apparently a shit ton of tourists gathered while he was completing the Idol of Lugh. Morata residents and players came up here to look at Weed too. Isn't it true that an enormous number of players have gathered on the rocky mountain?"

Hon nodded. Even in his eyes, a crowd of this extent couldn't be beaten by a metropolis like the capital of a Kingdom. If there was a throng of people like this in the northern part of Morata, then it really was an incredible deal.

"So they said he's cooking from today onwards to 'receive' the people who came."

"Cooking… who the hell can buy cooking this expensive?"

"Weed tried to sell it cheap, but it seems like players said that he had to charge prices of this extent, at least. Don't be surprised. If you eat 1 kg of Dragon Meat, your Vitality will rise by a whoppin' 20, maximum Health by 120, and Strength by 7."

Hon's eyes widened in disbelief. "Are you bullshitting me? Is something like that even possible with cooking?"

"Apparently there are a lot of people who've already seen the effects."

"If it's the meat of a King Hydra or a Dragon, then you can’t call spending this much Gold expensive."

Hon, Garrick, and the others thought it was reasonable. Rather, it was a chance for them to be able to eat precious food. If it raises their stats, they would be able to benefit from it for a long time afterwards.

"Shall we try standing in line too, for the time being?"

"Yeah. When else will we able to try eating Dragon meat? They said it also raises stats, so if we don't take a chance like this we're gonna regret it forever."

Hon, Garrick, Billeo, and the others stood in line. The greed for stats was intense no matter what your profession was. Intelligence and Wisdom were the most important for Magicians, but they would never hesitate to take a chance to improve their physical strength or Agility. Everyone was the same regarding their bodily well-being, regardless of profession, gender, or age!

In such a fashion, the customers waiting to eat the food were steadily increasing.

A soup that literally had a Dragon swum in it and left! Black bean noodles with sauce made using the King Hydra's incredible meat and noodles made of flour! There was barely any meat in the Skeleton Bone Hangover Soup, but it still raised stats like Strength, Agility, or Vitality by 1 or 2. It was because the effect possessed by the ultimate cooking ingredients, the Hydra and Imoogi meat, were supplemented by the Cooking skill.

Weed reaped excessive profits as he produced an enormous amount of food. It was such an amount that an army chef would be emotionally touched if they came and saw it.

"As expected, business is hard at first. Once it starts doing well, it's crazy because of the customers pressing in."

The greatest trouble for a business was taxes! But in Morata, even if he technically paid the taxes, it would all return to Weed's pocket in the end.

Weed employed Morata’s residents to help him with the kitchen tasks. A jackpot restaurant that drew in the customers didn't make food, it made money. As long as it was popular, there weren't many enterprises as profitable as the food business. Especially if you could totally rip everyone off like now!

His Cooking skill had also gone up twice from Intermediate level 6 to 8. He had worked hard to brew liquor at the River of Lamentation to accumulate proficiency. That had already put him at level 7, but because the King Hydra and Imoogi meat were fundamentally good food ingredients and so precious, his Cooking skill proficiency was still surging up.

The Imoogi meat was even causing a panic, hoarding phenomenon. Because the amount of meat was already fixed, there was an uproar of people trying to buy.

"Weed-nim, please give me just 7 servings."

"I'm buying 12 servings."

The meat frozen by Bingryong was being imported via Yellowy! The meat sold like hotcakes as soon as it thawed. The smoke of grilling meat was everywhere on the rocky mountain because of those who were personally grilling their meat by setting bonfires.

"We also sell Imoogi Bone Broth."

The lightning fast sale of bone broth that didn't even give off anymore grease, as it had been steeped a whole twelve times!

Drinks, which couldn't be left out when selling meat, were also prepared.

"Wangisul at 30 Gold, Baeknyunju at 80 Gold. Quantities are limited, so buy them quickly."

[T/N: Wangisul is a spoof of the popular soju Chamisul, and Baeknyunju is a rewritten form of Baekseju, a rice-based fermented wine.]

The flower girl, who had been captured by the Vampire Torido and turned to stone, Prina, was selling alcohol.

Weed was even selling off all the alcohol he had brewed in this occasion. Because he could get a higher price for restaurant sale than individual sale.

* * *

Adventurers arrived at the destroyed Embinyu Fortress.

"Hmm, so this was the ferocious battlefield."

"It has an eerie feeling, as if something is going to come out."

Hon, Billeo, Garrick, and the others had moved to the River of Lamentations basin towards the evening. They had emptied their pockets of even their change until their stats stopped rising from eating the Hydra and Imoogi meat.

"I see you are eating a lot. I will specially give you a 20 Silver discount for each plate of meat. Since it is very precious meat, please enjoy."

When they heard Weed's words, they were, of course, so thankful that they were moved to tears. It's not like they didn't think he was cheap, but he was the one holding the knife!

After eating the food, they went to use the movement portal. However, Morata's Soldiers and Paladins were blocking their way.

"You cannot use the portal."

Hon asked politely, "What kind of request must we take? Is there a quest, by any chance?"

At their question that was aimed towards getting permission to use the movement portal, the Soldiers shook their heads.

"You must pay a usage fee."

"A fee?"

"Each person is 350 gold."

Having used all the money they had to eat meat, Hon and the group fell into an embarrassing situation.

Looking at the group, Hon asked, "What to do?"

"What else? We've gotta get the money."

The Magician Easton rummaged through his pockets one by one. He had always had the pleasure of making lots of money through the production of magic goods, but thanks to drinking alcohol while eating meat, his pockets were completely empty.

"There's no helping it. Let's take this chance to get rid of things we aren't using."

"Shall we?"

"Yeah, we might as well organize our packs now."

In Morata, the group sold off things like swords and armor they had used in the past, and ores they had stored separately. They were scraping up the funds for hunting by selling the items they had treasured in remembrance. It was true that the movement portal fee was a bit expensive, but the sum was more than worth a better hunting ground.

Like that, they moved to the Matallost Church's temple and sought out the Embinyu Fortress.

The collapsed castle walls and tower, piles of skeletons that looked like they would rise at any moment. It was an eerie night since the riverside was foggy, too, but there were over 80 players who had come through the movement portal like Hon's group. With the excitement of starting a new and dangerous adventure, plenty of adventurers had come to the River of Lamentations, and were looking around the Embinyu Fortress battlefield they had seen in the broadcast.

"Selling goods necessary for hunting. Purchasing all kinds of japtem at high prices."

The Merchant Mapan had come to the Embinyu Fortress entrance and set up shop at some point. Since it was business that only dealt with high leveled players, the margin would be considerable.

"Anyone who'll take a Soldier? I'll fight without sparing myself physically."

"I'm Vittese. Only people who know me, please take me along."

Players who had come alone were seeking parties here. Hon's group didn't need another party member, so they were going to hunt with just their group.

Just then, Weed walked in from the plains. His black mantle fluttered as he walked straight to the Embinyu Fortress. Weed arrived and spoke to those who were looking around inside the ruined fortress.

"Everyone… do you perhaps need a quest?"

"...?"

"I will share the quest I've received. It's a B difficulty request."

It was a difficulty Weed may or may not be able to do. It was underground, so he couldn't drag a bunch of his sculptured life-forms along with him, and there was a labyrinth inside, so it would drain a lot of time.

"What quest is it?" A blond-haired female Elementalist asked in curiosity.

The Wargod Weed. Opinions on him were still divided, but it was the quest of a figure who was believed as a Wargod by many.

"It is the Rescue the Matallost Church's Prisoners quest. It's a part of the linked quest I am doing."

"Really?"

Even if Weed shared the linked quest, the people who joined in the middle wouldn't be able to receive the follow-up quest since they hadn't started from the beginning. If this one quest was finished, it would end with that. But despite that, it was an offer they could not help but be drawn to.

The majority of those who had come here had heard rumors before about the Matallost Church, which was related to the Resurrection Army.

"That's a place related to the Resurrection Army and Daymond, right?"

"Yeah. I think so."

While Weed was stopping the Embinyu Church's plot, the Resurrection Priests had become unable to raise Demonic Spirits with dead ghosts. It wasn't just a fight against the Embinyu Church, but it had been a chance for Weed to grow even more famous as an adventurer. Because of that, the Resurrection Army was currently unable to increase their forces and were maintaining their siege at Fort Odin.

"Where is the quest location?"

"Right here, it is an underground prison."

"Really?"

The players at the Embinyu Fortress, including the Elementalists, hurried to approach Weed. They were going to receive the shared quest since it was a very good quest!

"Please share with me, Weed-nim!"

"Thank you. Please share the quest you worked hard to receive."

Weed smiled as he spoke to those who were thanking him. "However, I will take a fixed participation fee. It's 800 Gold."

"..."

A B rank difficulty quest related to the Matallost Church! Even if the linked quest didn't continue for them, they could receive the reward of other quests, along with EXP and Fame.

Weed, who was making money off endless rip-offs and scam fees!