Chương 93: Walls of Text Build a Fortress

"Let's do this," Meno said.

"No complaining." Viewers: 3, 108, 442 too late complaint filed wall of text boss pick correctly do not ruin Meno opened the first notification, already resigned to the drama. [World First Chain of the First Dream] You are the first to defeat the Chain of the First Dream. The first guardian of the Lost Temple has fallen. Your victory will be remembered throughout Veyrath.

[Reward Acquired: 10, 000 Karma] [Legacy Selection Available] [Legacy of the World] Durability loss reduced by 10% for all current and future players in Veyrath. [Legacy of the Crown] Durability loss reduced by 20% for all current and future members of Grave Crown. [Legacy of the First Breakers] Durability loss reduced by 30% for all participants in the defeat of the Chain of the First Dream. Only one legacy may be selected. This choice cannot be changed. Chat reacted with the intelligence of a stampede.

take all ALL all please world buff dont be selfish pick us"Great," Meno said.

"If you guys think I am picking all, you will be disappointed." Meno's Karma reached 18, 610, and a smaller notification slid under the Karma reward. [Karma Threshold Reached: 10, 000] [Faction Standing Increased: Esteemed] [Grave Crown recognizes your name.] The AI had designed these achievements like public executions with reward ribbons attached. Whatever he picked, millions of people would take it as a personal affront. world buff pick world rank one rigging selfish loser ban choice"Hey," Meno said.

"It is my achievement. I can pick whatever I want." That did not help. The world buff would be safest socially, but picking it would betray the people who had joined Grave Crown because of him. The durability buff was better than it looked: less repair time, less gold loss, more uptime, better war sustain, and fewer broken weapons in long fights. The personal option was bait. Thirty percent for only him sounded nice, but Legendary III items already had absurd durability, and some came with Indestructible.

Taking the extra ten percent just to hoard it alone would create a headache bigger than the reward. A world announcement flashed. [World Legacy Established] PrayerBeadGod has chosen Legacy of the Crown. Grave Crown durability loss reduced by 20%. Chat turned foul. grave bias rigged faction unfair coward Crown mistake ruined economy"If you want the buff," Meno said, "you can always join Grave Crown." Guild chat celebrated instead of trying to bite his throat.

[Guild] Chadculator: correct [Guild] Nix: nice [Guild] Morfoos: repairs cheaper praise bones [Guild] Junebug: crown crown crown [Guild] Almos: tanks appreciate not going broke Meno opened the next notification in the order that made sense to him, not the order the system had thrown them at his face. [World First Vervenzal, the Banished God] You are the first to defeat Vervenzal, the Banished God. Cast beyond heaven and forgotten by the faithful, Vervenzal waited within the Lost Temple for an age without end.

The Banished God has fallen. [Reward Acquired: 50, 000 Karma] [Legacy Selection Available] [Legacy of the Rising World] Experience gained by all current and future players in Veyrath increased by 1%. [Legacy of the Ascendant Crown] Experience gained by all current and future members of Grave Crown increased by 2%. [Legacy of the Banished Victor] Experience gained by all participants in the defeat of Vervenzal increased by 3%. Only one legacy may be selected. This choice cannot be changed.

Chat went completely feral. BAN HIM I HATE YOU do not let him choose XP BUFF??? BAN THIS CHEATER world world world solo buff = fraud Meno was used to trolls, but this felt different. The messages came from people who were not joking, and there were too many of them to blur into background noise. He understood why. XP was not durability. XP touched rankings, sponsorships, guild recruitment, future first clears, and every streamer's fragile claim that they had earned their spot.

His Karma jumped to 68, 610, but no new rank appeared, which told him the next threshold might be 100, 000. That could matter later. Right now, millions were watching him hold an XP lever over Veyrath. Viewers: 4, 027, 991"Okay," Meno said.

"Please calm down." rigged ladder take solo coward dont you dare Grave Crown already ate first buff world or ban rank one fraud incoming Meno looked at the three options. The solo XP buff was a trap. Three percent did not sound massive, but across forty-one levels to one hundred it would add up. More than a free level, maybe much more if the curve steepened. If he picked it, people would use it against him forever, and every future rank-one defense would come with an asterisk written by people who hated him.

The Grave Crown buff was dangerous too. Durability loss reduction for his faction was strong but defensible, but adding faction XP on top would turn Grave Crown into the default tryhard faction by force. He could already hear every non-Crown streamer explaining why everything was over.

"Sorry, Grave Crown," Meno said, "but this is the kind of thing that is not worth the long-term drama." Guild chat slowed.

"The durability buff is already very strong for uptime and gold. Adding XP on top is a trap." [World Legacy Established] PrayerBeadGod has chosen Legacy of the Rising World. All players gain 1% increased experience. Chat finally cooled by a few degrees. saved okay fair rare mature Meno world buff still nerf him thank you Meno opened the most ominous notification next. It was not really an achievement. It sounded like a system failure trying to dress up.

[Impossible Scenario Detected] A raid intended for many has been conquered by one. Your victory exceeds all projected outcomes. Veyrath will remember.

"Yeah. Cool. That sounds like a threat." love letter definitely threat AI watching big angry you are cooked He opened the next achievement before thinking too much about that. [World First Solo Raid Boss Kill] You are the first player to defeat a raid boss without assistance. What was built to withstand many has fallen to one. [Lone Resolve] While you are not in a party, death penalties are reduced by 20%.

"Finally," Meno said.

"Not a trap disguised as a choice." OP This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. death discount solo privilege must be nice"This is not that OP considering how hard it is to get. It should have been fifty percent, easy." Above level fifty, death already cost five hundred gold. Lone Resolve dropped that to four hundred when he was solo, assuming the tooltip math behaved itself. That mattered because Meno was alone most of the time and died often enough to risk going broke.

It was not flashy, but it would save serious money. He opened the next one as his direct viewership pushed higher. Viewers: 5, 119, 208 Everyone wanted to know what was going to happen to Veyrath. [World First Solo Raid Clear] You are the first player to defeat a raid endboss without assistance. The final challenge of a raid has yielded to one. [Lost Temple Invocation] Once per weekly raid reset, summon an open-world manifestation of a random Lost Temple raid boss within a level 50 or higher open-world zone.

While the summoned raid boss remains active, all parties and raid groups within the zone are disbanded and cannot be reformed. Faction ties are suspended, and all players become hostile to one another. The summoned raid boss is hostile to all players and creatures and grows stronger based on the number of participating players. The summoned raid boss does not reset or regenerate health while the invocation remains active. Contribution is earned through damage dealt to the summoned raid boss.

When the summoned raid boss is defeated, the player with the highest contribution may select one item from its normal loot table. The selected item is awarded directly. Only one Lost Temple Invocation may be active at a time. WHAT WHAT WORLD BOSS NUKE FREE FOR ALL NO PARTIES HEALERS DEAD TEMPLEFALL WAR"What the hell is the AI thinking?" The ability was both awesome and terrifying. A random Lost Temple raid boss in a level fifty-plus open-world zone meant, right now, Templefall Hollow.

It was not an item, not a scroll, but a weekly ability that turned an entire zone into a forced free-for-all boss disaster. Meno read the disband line again.

"Healers get shafted," he said.

"But what do you expect? It is a solo achievement." Healer chat entered a meltdown worthy of its own achievement. support hate healer tax no party??? how heal trash design we protest"No faction, no party, no raid, and everyone hostile to everyone else is something else. But it is once per week." Meno thought through the practical use, which mostly involved imagining how fast everyone would try to kill him. The moment he activated it, people would stop caring about the boss.

Rival factions, jealous streamers, random PKers, and probably allies with suspicious morals would all see one target. There was no greater force for cooperation than a common enemy with rank one over his head.

"The only reason this is killable is because the boss does not reset," Meno said. Viewers: 6, 004, 773"Eventually it dies to corpse rushing. People keep running back, chipping it down, trying for top contribution while not getting farmed by other players. The death gold cost will be nasty." worth weekly bloodbath Templefall Hollow ruined summon now do it no balls Meno opened the last major notification, already dizzy from the wall of text.

[World First Lost Temple Raid Cleared] The path beyond level 60 has not yet been written. The shape of Veyrath's future now stands before you. Your selection will trigger world state progression. Make a choice for Veyrath's future. [Daxolon] A continent swallowed by the deepest eternal night will reveal itself. [Fractera] A barren expanse split by ancient fractures and, buried beneath it, vast underground secrets will open.

[Rimvolen] A frozen continent of brutal winds, endless snow, and glacial silence will awaken. [Let the World Choose] Only one future may be chosen. This choice cannot be changed. World-state progression will begin immediately after selection.

"This is punishment." choose dark Fractera snow zone LET WORLD CHOOSE Daxolon guild Rimvolen best dig dig dig"No matter what I choose, most people will be mad. It would be nice to know if this is just cosmetic or if it changes something specific." Chat agreed for half a second before immediately spamming personal demands. Meno read the first option again.

"Okay, so Daxolon is probably dark with low visibility. That sounds fresh, but I am not sure how many people want the constant stress." me ME dark zone hype stealth meta edgelord option night continent"Fractera is underground, maybe," he continued.

"It is unclear if the surface is empty or also has content." dig dig dwarf arc mining meta pick Fractera balanced choice wrong"It sounds like a balanced option, but tight spaces restrict movement a lot. Going through tunnels or cramped paths all day can get old fast." wrong movement baby underground peak skill issue dig coward Meno already knew he probably should not pick anything yet.

There was no visible timer, which meant he could leave it open, ask guilds, poll viewers, call Brad, wait for Jaxxon and BrineSaint to make essays, and drown in arguments for the next week. If he delayed, the AI might force his hand anyway, and every faction would harass him until he chose their preferred continent. He wanted it over, so he looked at the third option.

"Rimvolen is the fridge zone. Unfortunately, my fridge is empty. The glacial silence sounds good, though." fridge zone snow pick cold resistant meta LET WORLD CHOOSE democracy do not trust Meno Meno saw the spam for Let the World Choose rising and shook his head.

"You guys cannot be trusted with this choice. After all the crap you said today, that is not happening." democracy dead tyrant rank one dictator world belongs to players vote vote vote"It is my achievement," Meno said.

"Get your own, then you can pick." Kaerthalan shifted behind him, drawing Meno's attention back to the dragon.

"Do you have any input?" Meno asked loudly.

"Why are you even here?" The Ashen Crown Dragon opened his eyes slowly.

"This is my temple now," Kaerthalan said.

"Why are you still here?" dragon landlord HIS TEMPLE pay rent get out human Kaerthalan owns"Hey," Meno said.

"Aren't you a bit ungrateful? It is not like you helped much."

"Yes," Kaerthalan said.

"I find that puzzling as well, since you never requested my assistance. It changes nothing."

"I thought Vervenzal was your ancient enemy. Shouldn't you celebrate? Give me a reward?"

"He was," the dragon said.

"Now he is gone. I never doubted my victory." Meno pointed at him.

"Your victory? What exactly did you do?"

"I brought you here. Did you forget?" gotcha dragon carried mount diff true pay apple tax The annoying part was that the dragon was not wrong. Meno had been below level thirty when he unlocked the raid and rode on Kaerthalan's back into the previous world state progression. Still, Kaerthalan was acting far too smug for someone who had mostly slept through the hard part.

"Can you at least tell me about Daxolon, Fractera, and Rimvolen?" Kaerthalan lowered his head slightly.

"What do you want to know?"

"Which continent should I open the way to?"

"None," Kaerthalan said.

"They are all trouble." helpful perfect answer dragon says no content all bad access denied Meno closed his eyes for a second. This dragon was spectacularly unhelpful: no thanks, no reward, no clear lore summary, just mild amusement and no apples left for Meno to bribe him into better dialogue.

"How am I supposed to decide from one sentence?" Kaerthalan said nothing, so Meno tried to improvise. He needed data.

"Which one has the best apples?" Kaerthalan perked up enough to make the question look less stupid.

"The Radiants in Daxolon hoard all light for themselves so they can feel special, while everything else rots in darkness. Their apples are divine, but they taste of theft." Meno leaned forward.

"There are no apples in Fractera anymore," Kaerthalan continued.

"The continent has been purged from the outside. The surface was razed, and the Riftkings grow nothing. They march deeper, obsessively searching for answers to questions that do not exist."

"Okay."

"The Cryarchs of Rimvolen concern themselves only with keeping the frozen cage they built for Morvarenax sealed. Terrible place. No apples." Meno tried to digest the information, which was basically quest text and therefore outside his natural habitat. He cared about XP, loot, monster density, first clears, route quality, and whether the terrain made his movement miserable. The system was forcing him into a roleplay decision with millions watching.

"That is weird," Meno said.

"So the dark zone is ruled by lightbulbs. The underground one is an invasion zone run by lunatics. The snow one is actually a fridge holding something scary in the freezer, like when I tried to make ice cubes from chicken soup." chicken soup cubes never cook fridge boss lightbulbs lore master"So all bad for apples," Meno said.

"Got it." He looked back at the dragon.

"But where does one get the best apples, then?" Kaerthalan considered the question with grave care, scratching one claw against the tile as though answering wrong would offend his entire bloodline.

"Naraltan." secret name new zone? NARALTAN not option apple continent"It is a place of eternal storms. The apple trees drink lightning, and each fruit oozes energy. It is lethal for small things like you. If one can handle it, nothing compares." Meno's interest sharpened.

"Is it just trees and lightning? What else is there? Who rules the place? Why does it exist?"

"It is a remnant of an ancient battlefield," Kaerthalan said.

"The eternal storm is a last-resort spell from beings whose names I cannot speak. Only the strongest among multitudes of races can withstand it. They arrive from other lands to fight greedily over fruit that can make them more powerful." That sounded better than the three options, which was probably why Kaerthalan's tail shifted once.

"Forget about it. Even I cannot remain there long."

"Yes, but you were not the one who defeated Vervenzal, were you?" The dragon looked at him with contempt.

"Hmmpf. Do what you want. Your end." Meno immediately liked Naraltan more. Only strong beings meant fewer annoying trash mobs, smarter opponents, better open-world XP, and less dungeon repetition. The danger was that it might be zerg-focused or party-focused, but the storm itself sounded like a filter, and Kaerthalan admitting even he could not stay long made it feel like a challenge. Weak players would suffer, which was appealing.

do not dont even think not an option pick normal Meno no he found bad idea Meno looked up toward the invisible AI.

"Hey. Can I choose this instead? Please update the choices." Nothing happened. The options remained exactly where they were. Kaerthalan laughed, low and rough.

"There is no path for you there." denied AI said no lol pick fridge apple cope Meno kept bargaining with the sky.

"How about this? I pick something else, but you also unlock Naraltan for, you know, fun." fun lmao for fun classic ignore him no response There was no response, and Meno disliked that more than a refusal. The more he was denied, the more he wanted it. Naraltan sounded like the place Veyrath should send players who had already broken normal progression: not dark, not tunnels, not snow, but storms, strong enemies, and apples that could kill him. He looked back at Kaerthalan.

"You take me there. You still owe me a reward."

"No," the dragon said. Meno's temper caught.

"Then how about this? We fight. If I win, you do it." NO NOOOO DRAGON FIGHT he just got rank one dont break raid MENO STOP Smoke curled from Kaerthalan's nostrils.

"Puny human," the dragon said.

"You dare challenge me?" The dragon rose, ash and black wings spreading across the ruined temple as he lifted above Meno, hovering where sword and axe could not reach. His eyes burned with ancient contempt, and the cracked floor trembled under each wingbeat.

"How will you fight," Kaerthalan asked, "flightless fledgling?" Meno looked at his new skill, then at the dragon.

"Like this." Chat understood the implication before the system did. NOOO CHAIN CANNON DO NOT rip Veyrath he will break it again STOP HIM Meno ignored them, because the worst that could happen was death. Probably. [Panic Pump] His HP crashed to 1. The 25% shield snapped around him, and Chain hit 100. [Chain Cannon] Meno swung, slow and locked, his sword arm driving Vervenzal's Verdict forward as power gathered around the blade and the raid air tightened into a narrow line.

For one breath, Kaerthalan looked interested. Then the entire instance cracked. [Raid Instance Collapsed]