Weed placed the sculpture in the bowl. Then, as if it were given life, the scythe-holding malevolence flashed open its eyes.
Ruuuuummmble!
The mansion shook, as if there were an earthquake.
A damp fog filled the basement, and a black vortex formed above the altar. A gate to another place had opened.
Smith staggered backwards in surprise.
The black gate.
Not only had he never seen a gate of this color anywhere, but the scythe-holding malevolence figure was glaring at him. An incomparably terrifying look.
However, Weed was not afraid.
There was nothing as terrifying as an empty account balance. It was so scary he had nightmares of negative interest even in his dreams!
— A gate to the River of Lamentation has opened.
Access is impossible for general users.
The quest will proceed in the River of Lamentation.
The success or failure of this quest will affect the Resurrection Army accordingly.
The message window popped up to all the users in the Versailles Continent.
Weed swiftly approached the gate, and the black vortex swirled as if it were going to eat him up. However, Smith hurriedly shook his hands.
“Hey.”
“What?”
“In order to solve my request, won't I also have to follow?”
“Of course.”
Weed desperately wanted to leave Smith behind, but he had to take him.
“I have a condition. If I go in there, you have to make it so I can drink five bottles of liquor every day.”
“…”
“If I don't drink, I can't fall asleep, you see.”
Weed nodded his head and agreed.
“Alright.”
He couldn't look after Smith all the time. It would be better to put him to sleep even if it was by drinking liquor.
“Also, recruit a mercenary.”
“What?”
“You're a feeble Sculptor, aren't you?”
If Weed was feeble, then the majority of Warriors or Swordsmen would be crawling around on the ground for lack of strength.
Smith continued, “I don't feel safe with just you. And we don't even know where we'll arrive if we go through that gate, so wouldn't it be better to bring one mercenary?”
Ding!
— It has become possible to recruit one mercenary to progress the quest together.
Hiring a mercenary in a Sculptor-only quest!
This meant there was going to be an actual battle.
'Even if it's low, it is an A-rank difficulty quest…'
If he considered the chain quests that would occur as Niflheim Empire's reconstruction or the Matallost faith's second coming, the actual difficulty could be much higher.
It was to the point where it wasn't the end of the chain quest that was a burden.
He had to find someone to do the quest with whom he could trust to some degree.
Weed immediately sent a whisper.
— Pale-nim.
— Yes.
Pale responded promptly.
— I'm doing a quest, but I need one mercenary.
— Really? Where are you?
— Hagen Village of Sur Kingdom.
— What to do? It'll take a minimum of twenty days to go from the North all the way to there.
— Might there be someone else who's in the Central Continent?
— Mapan-nim left towards Rosenheim Kingdom to trade, the others are all gathered here.
Mapan's fighting strength was too lacking to bring him as a mercenary, so he was ruled out from the start even though he was a little closeby.
— Right now we're also doing a quest called “The Secret of Manufacturing Ancient Breastplate.”
— Seems difficult. I understand.
Weed clearly had to give up. If he were to ask Pale to come, Maylon would be sad.
Irene would be a big help since she was a Priest, but there would be a lot of times when he'd have to protect her. In that aspect, Romuna was also in a similar position.
Surka was young and timid at times, so it was burdensome to go through thick and thin for a dozen days with just the two of them in a difficult quest's dungeon.
Hwaryeong's dance skill was good for increasing stats or putting monsters to sleep. Her usefulness was outstanding, but her actual attack power was weak so it was dangerous. Even if she was good in general hunting, it was a strain to bring her to a fight where he didn't know what kind of difficulty might be waiting.
Zephyr was out from the start.
Though his Health was strong, Resilience was good, and he even had an AoE skill.
“Since he's being friendly with my little sister, he is absolutely a no.”
Weed erased Zephyr's existence from his mind.
How could he give his dearly raised little sister to a playboy. It was something never to happen even if the sky were to collapse.
“Since she says they're just meeting, I'll have to wait and see. Since my little sister has an eye for people.”
His little sister's actions or demeanor hadn't changed, so he was relieved for now.
A father's ripping heart when his daughter when out on a date with her boyfriend wearing a short skirt!
Weed could also sympathize a little.
“Men are all wolves and thieves. If a man dies at the hands of a woman, she's innocent. Because even if he dies, he was sure to have committed an inappropriate deed, or wanted to commit one!”
Even so, he couldn't take Yurin either.
He sent a whisper to SwordNoob.
— Master.
— ……
— Master.
— Ahem! What's up!
— What are you doing right now?
— I, I didn't do anything. I absolutely wasn't starting a conversation with a Dark Elf Lady. Disciple. There was just something I wanted to ask.
— Master…
SwordNoob's honest reply returned after a while.
— Shouldn't I also marry? It's difficult, but I should try a late marriage, at least.
— The other elder brothers are also busy, right?
— Yeah. They're in the Orc village, and many are in the Dark Elf's village as well. The Dark Elves with their dark-complexioned skin are healthy, so they like them very much.
— How are the Yuroki Mountains?
— There are many monsters. It's alright since there're a lot of monsters worth fighting. Making a party together with Orcs and trying out their hunting style is also fun.
SwordNoob and the other elder brothers were enjoying Royal Road. Flaunting their hearty masculine beauty as they protected the weak Orcs.
— Master, Dark Elves also like flowers.
— Oh, really? Alright. You should work hard as well. And call me anytime if you need help.
— Yes, master!
Weed ended the whisper with SwordNoob.
'Who should I take?'
The Travellers of the Wilderness Guild!
A minority elite group of Armen Kingdom. A guild he estimated as having many unknown high-level users.
It was a guild Weed was a member of, but he hadn't looked at the guild chat window for a while. It was turned off because the guild members frequently chatted idly amongst themselves! It was also a burden due to fact that he didn't know anyone well enough to invite just one person from the Travellers of the Wilderness guild.
Just then, a whisper from Pale came.
— Weed-nim, you said you were getting one mercenary, right? Will you perhaps take one Shaman?
— What kind of Shaman are they?
— Her skill proficiency and utilization are to the point of being ridiculous. She is the most famous Shaman in Morata. She's being a really big help even in party hunting together. I said spoke about Weed-nim just now, and she said she really wants to go.
Weed recalled his time as a beginner, when he hadn't been playing Royal Road for very long.