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The sight of him clearing away groups of monsters that surrounded him without fear was enough to give me the creeps.

He certainly had fighting ability, but I had never before seen anyone with such efficiency, they didn't even have any superfluous movements. Even while wounded and falling into traps, Weed pressed onward endlessly.

— What dungeon was that? 

— What boss monster appeared? 

— I don't know it either. I died in the middle of it because I got discovered by Weed.

While wandering lonesomely through hunting grounds, Weed did not bother with right or wrongs. He would simply kill them if they were an eyesore. He even killed guilds that attacked him, and killed those who annoyed him.

His ruthless infamy had accumulated extensively.

* * *

In CTS Media, massive amounts of funding were lay out an information gathering system in the Versailles Continent.

“We can't fall behind in the news. News is far more important than broadcasts about celebrities.”

The number of people playing Royal Road was growing exponentially. Not only in the Republic of Korea, but all over the world. People who did not enjoy Royal Road were treated as savages. In Africa, the Middle East, and in South America, the craze was amazing. There was nothing more to be said since even the royals of the Arabian lands and Brazil's drug dealers were addicted to Royal Road!

It would seem as though the international players pouring in all at once would cause a considerable amount of confusion, but they quietly enjoyed the new world. Only a portion of the populace clung to extreme growth, like leveling up or item gathering. They settled in the northern, western, and central parts of the Continent. There were many players who possessed no aversion to experiencing the new wealth of experience known as monsters or different races.

'Heroes of the Versailles Continent,' CTS Media's primary program, was even translated and broadcasted in countries all over the world. As Royal Road grew, the sales of the related broadcasts were also expanding rapidly.

“Nothing draws attention like news. A leading program can only become news!”

CTS Media made contracts with foreign broadcasters before their competitors and even had much better terms. They used the fact that their parent company was a global multinational corporation, to pull the strings with their personal connections.

Enormous sums of money flowed in through copyright contracts, and depending on the sales, they even received royalties at regular intervals.

It wasn't just the capsules that international players bought and utilization fees; as the broadcast industry expanded, Royal Road was about to become the Republic of Korea's greatest source of income.

Because CTS was decidedly foremost in commercial marketing, they reinvested the money they had earned into Royal Road. They wouldn't even dare to dream of influencing the board of directors by increasing their Unicorn stock share. Not only CTS, but even their whole company couldn't compare to Unicorn in sales or cash income.

Unicorn's status in the worldwide economy was increasing with time, so only those who had held stocks in the early stages had been struck with sudden wealth.

CTS Media dispatched reports and invested in players for acquiring Royal Road information. Including castle lords, they persuaded key players using lots of money.

“It would be nice if you did exclusive coverage for our broadcast station alone.”

Most users were easily swayed in front money.

“Is it really okay… for us to take this much money?”

“Of course. And please supply us with information about things that happen within the territory you govern, and please block the actions of personnel from other stations, if possible.”

For guilds that handled regions, they weren't hard requests. It was too much for them to completely blockade the movements of reporters from other broadcasting stations, who moved under hidden identities. However, public coverage acquisition for another station was something that could certainly be stopped. The guilds were only spoken badly for a few days, so it wasn't really a problem.

“We understand, please treat us well.”

CTS Media entered agreements with many lesser lords on the Versailles Continent. However, negotiations did not proceed easily with guilds that had greater power.

One area's rulers had many sources of income. Taxes, bribe money from minor guilds, hunting ground fees, and weapon and armor sales were producing much profit. Prestigious guilds were already steeped in commercial activities, so they were actually managing rather sizeable businesses.

“The contract sum is small, I see.”

“We do not move for sums of this size.”

They had grown to the point where they even ignored calls from station directors. Even though it was a virtual reality, the big lords of the Versailles Continent held enough authority and power. Even broadcasting stations couldn't deal with such lords carelessly. If they were rubbed the wrong way, coverage wouldn't proceed well, so they had to deal with being in the shoes of the weak. They couldn't even report the misdeeds of huge guilds heedlessly.

“We contacted just about everyone in the Central Continent… how is it going with the South and West?”

“The casting will end for players we have contact information for sometime between today and tomorrow.”

“How are their responses?”

“Perhaps it's because there were rumors about trade in the central continent, but they are deciding quickly. I think the casting will end soon because they are many large guilds.”

“That's not bad news.”

There were many differences between the Western Versailles Continent and the other regions. Powerful centralized nations were positioned in the Central Continent. They were nations that boasted rich lands, mines, and populations. Emerging nations with outstanding potential were positioned in the East, and the South developed magic. There was vigorous pioneering and adventuring in the North. Because the Versailles Continent's area was so large, there were still places where people had yet to set foot in, even in the Central Continent.

The West had a strong nationalist disposition, so it was mostly settled by guilds that recruited native people. In other regions, even if you started in a specific city or village, you could escape the region's influence simply by moving your hunting ground. However, you could not do so in the West, which had many grasslands and deserts. There were many strong Warriors who were tied by blood to nomadic people, so they boasted strong cohesion. Excluding wanderers in the Central Continent. For the most part, guild issues were decided by the native people. Their strength was inferior in comparison to the Central Continent, but the size and numbers of individual guild territories were not small.

“That's a relief. Who are we contacting in the North?”

The Executive Director was personally heading a meeting in the CTS Media conference room.

“The representative of the North would be Weed's Morata. In the past, we had a business relationship.”

“Who contacted him? Who was the person in charge?”

“The President's Secretary, Yoon Na-hee.”

“Oh? Why did the President's Secretary herself contact him?”

“There was the matter of the President personally deciding to purchase the Continent of Magic account. The casting for the 8 Heroes program was also entrusted to her.”

“It's really such a shame. If we had just kept broadcasting, it would have been a big hit…”

The 8 Heroes had managed to bring in decent ratings. However, they had stopped starring Weed because the initial response hadn't been good. After that, Weed had then won the battles against the True Blood Vampires, the Undead Legion, and the Bone Dragon.

Because their competitor KMC Media had gotten to broadcast those instead, there had even been an incident where PD in charge had written a letter of resignation. CTS Media's President had inevitably noticed.