Praise the Orc

Chapter 126: White Knight (1)

Yi-An disconnected from the server. He felt like he had returned home after a long journey. Everything felt very unfamiliar in his slender body after living inside Crockta’s huge body for a while. He checked the time. It was dawn. All of the adventures he had in Elder Lord flashed past him. Was it all a dream? No, it was all reality.

Yi-An grinned and flopped down on the bed. He was tired. He had just been swinging his greatsword at a blood-splattering battlefield with his life at stake. It felt odd to disconnect from such a harsh place and immediately be at peace in his home. As he hugged his fluffy blanket and closed his eyes, his entire body sank into the mattress.

When he closed his eyes, he saw the desolate northern landscape spread out beyond the darkness. He could still vividly feel the sensation of sending Calmahart’s head flying into the sky. He also thought of the orc warriors who filled the plains to the brim. They had gotten down on their knees and acknowledged him as the new chieftain.

He had accomplished all of this with a single greatsword. With just a single Ogre Slayer that fit perfectly into the palm of his hand, he had rescued cities and the entire north.

At his command, all of the orcs abandoned their weapons, and the war came to an end.

Everything in the world of Elder Lord was so clear-cut compared to his world, where everything was a tangled mess. In his world, it was difficult to discern the true nature of things. In the battlefields he had faced in the past, good and evil, right and wrong, were all intertwined and occupied the same space. But Elder Lord’s battles had clear sides; they were worth fighting for.

His mind sank into the bed like his body. He lost consciousness as his mind drifted off to the realm of sleep. In his dream, he wasn’t Yi-An but Orc Crockta and had returned to Orcrox to drink with his fellow orc warriors. The song of the orc warriors lifted his spirits.

***

He woke up to the noise of the television coming from outside. Yi-An went outside his room as he rubbed his eyes in a daze and saw Yi-Yoo watching the television while lying down on the couch. She glimpsed over at Yi-An.

“I feel like I haven’t seen you in a long time.”

“We see each other every day,” replied Yi-An.

“You haven’t come out of your room lately because you’ve been busy playing games.”

“That’s...true.” Yi-An nodded.

It was still early in the morning. She had a disgruntled look on her face. He already had to ease the mood?

“Do you want to eat something?” asked Yi-An.

“Yeah.”

“What?”

“Figure it out on your own.”

Yi-Yoo acted like a child sometimes, but something definitely seemed amiss with her. Yi-An laughed inwardly and headed to the kitchen.

When he had returned to South Korea from the foreign troops, he deliberated on starting a restaurant business before settling on a café. He wasn’t a good cook, but serving other people good food seemed like a good way to live. He realized he was happiest when he ate good food with his comrades after finishing a mission and washing up. Because of that, he wanted to make sharing good food with others a part of his daily life.

Even so, he ended up running a café because it was easier and more peaceful. He didn’t regret it, but he still had culinary skills from attending cooking classes and practicing when he had been preparing to open a restaurant.

“Haha, figure it out...” Those words meant the customer was asking for the dish the chef was most confident in. It was a showdown with the chief’s pride at stake. He wouldn’t be a chef if he backed down now. Yi-An imagined the best dish he could cook up.

Soon, Yi-An revealed the outcome of that pride.

“Hello.”

“Hello, here it is.”

“Here’s the cash. Yes, thank you. Have a nice day.”

“Yes, enjoy.”

The fried chicken had arrived. Of course, Yi-Yoo was impressed.

“Fried chicken for breakfast? Not bad.”

“Let’s eat before it gets cold,” said Yi-An.

The two ate chicken side by side. It was summer. The morning sun seeped in through the window. Yi-Yoo, as she bit into a chicken leg, suddenly said, “Oppa.”

“Yeah?”

“I messed up on my exams.”

“I see.” Yi-An glimpsed over at the television. He couldn’t hear well because the sound was low, but they were still talking about Elder Lord. The world was still in the age of Elder Lord. Yi-Yoo chewed with a mouthful of chicken as she glanced warily at Yi-An. She was scouting his mood. “You aren’t mad?”

“Why would I be mad?”

“You should be mad that your sister messed up on her exams when you paid the expensive tuition!” she shouted after swallowing the mouthful of meat.

Yi-An agreed. “Understood. Now that I think about it, I am starting to get angry. No more allowance for...”

“Wait.” Yi-Yoo shook her head. “Nevermind. Like you said, I don’t think there’s a need to get angry. Grades aren’t everything.”

“I’m gonna get angry.”

“Don’t get mad!”

“There’s a saying about people who get angry at others for their own mistakes...” But Yi-An couldn’t help but laugh at her insistence.

Yi-Yoo also grinned and leaned back on the couch. “Ah, what if I can’t get a job because my grades are so bad.”

“Come work at the café,” suggested Yi-An.

“No.”

“Why?”

“There’s Yeo-Ri unni.”

“Thought you had a good relationship with her?”

“That’s true, but it would be uncomfortable for Yeo-Ri unni, who is basically the manager. You know, if the boss’ sister gets the job out of nepotism. Plus, there’s already enough staff as it is.”

“Then I will open a new café for you.”

“What?!” Yi-Yoo squinted her eyes. “Do you have a lot of money?”

Yi-An let her words slide as he continued to watch the television. The showrunners were discussing Elder Lord’s rankings. The ranking of high-rankers had suddenly changed in Elder Lord.

New powerhouses had appeared, and the original high-rankers had fallen in the ranks. And at the center of it all were three players. ‘Rommel’ Choi Han-Sung, the pride of the Republic of Korea and the clan master of the Heaven and Earth Clan who shone at the top of the ranks. ‘Pathfinder’ Gunnar followed the conventions of online games from the past and formed raid groups for dungeon quests.

And one more...

“Oppa, are you listening to me?”

Yi-An coughed.

“Are you okay? Do you want some coke?”

And the third was a mysterious figure whose information was completely private; their player nickname was Mystery for convenience’s sake. The only things revealed about them were their levels and achievement points.

In Elder Lord, achievement points mattered the most in terms of rank, and number one Choi Han-Sung’s and number two Gunnar’s achievement scores were higher than his. Choi Han-Sung had built achievements that were impossible to outmatch through his war campaigns, and Gunnar was also acknowledged as an adventurer who appeared like a comet and made a name for himself in the continent by NPCs through his dungeon raids. But the levels were different.

Mystery, who ranked third, had the highest level in existence. Their level was 117. Considering that Choi Han-Sung, the number one’s level was 95, and Gunnar’s level was 92, Level 117 was well in the lead.

In the world of Elder Lord, where levels were determined by adding achievement points, the fact that Mystery’s level was the highest meant that their skill levels were formidably high! Although Mystery’s class was unknown, rumors circulated that the unknown player was at the top in terms of battle if they assumed the player was a battle class.

And that mystery was Yi-An. The level he had reached after bringing peace to the north and killing Calmahart was Level 117. His achievement score was also 1924800.

Yi-An turned his eyes away from the television and looked at Yi-Yoo. She was tilting her head with a disgruntled look on her face. “Anyway, I messed up on my exams, so I will...”

“It’s okay.” Yi-An shook his head. He was still in a daze from the news. “Just focus on studying business in school. If you can’t find a job, I will open up a store for you so you can run it.”

The payment for being a high-ranker he had received last time was extremely high, and the more one rose in the ranks, the more exponentially the payments rose. This time, the balance would far surpass his expectations. His days of risking his life and roaming the battlefield to earn money felt so distant like last time.

“Hmm...” Yi-Yoo furrowed her eyebrows. “You must have quite a bit of money, oppa.”

“It turned out that way, so don’t worry about unnecessary stuff.”

“Hmm...oppa, I must have done something good in my past life.” Then, she smiled. “I feel like I’ve used a cheat code in life and got you.”

Her face was bright like his mother’s in his memories. Or was it his father? In his memories, Yi-Yoo always remained as a child with a tearful face. She couldn’t accept the situation, so she cried endlessly at the funeral home after their parents passed away. She had overflowed with tears when she was put in the care of their relatives and had to say farewell to Yi-An. Yi-An vividly remembered what his father used to say.

‘You have to protect your sister because your mom and I are busy.’

‘The bond between siblings is stronger than that between parents and children. You have to rely on each other until death. She’s your closest kin, so you have to protect her. I trust you.’

Indeed, that was his mission. Yi-An looked at Yi-Yoo and smiled. “So, be good to me.”

“I’m already good to you,” replied Yi-Yoo.

“Like hell you are.”

***

“Hmm...” Ji Ha-Yeon was lost in thought as she placed a hand on her forehead. She was researching about Elder Lord per Yi-An’s request, but it was such an uncharted territory that not even she could venture into. Everything was top secret. There was only information accessible to her father, Chairman Ji Eun-Chul and key figures of the Elder Saga Corporation. But there was something she knew.

The man who had made everything, the father of Elder Lord, was called Yoo Jae-Han. Core system Albino was his work. But he had disappeared suddenly. Rumors about his death circulated, and some said he had become a madman, wandering somewhere in the world. After Elder Lord had been launched, no one saw him.

There was a researcher named Park Ju-Jin who had known him, but his location and the location of the central research institute where Albino was located were unknown.

“I’m getting curious.”

The secretary who always followed her shrugged her shoulders. “There must be a reason that the chairman didn’t tell you. How about stopping here?”

“But I want to know.”

“It’s just a game.”

“But that game is taking the world by storm.”

The whole world was connected through Elder Lord. All of the citizens of well-developed and developing countries who had the means to purchase access capsules were completely immersed in the game. Thus, if there was some kind of conspiracy behind it, the whole world would fall under its influence.

“Here, this is the last.” The secretary handed Ji Ha-Yeon a document. It wasn’t very thick, but its title and author were unfamiliar to her. It was a thesis.

“What’s this?”

“I’m not sure. It’s not Yoo Jae-Han’s, but it’s something that belonged to a man who knew him. It was left in Yoo Jae-Han’s office, but it wasn’t confiscated because it seemed useless.”

Ji Ha-Yeon skimmed over the document. It was a continuation of terms and jargon she didn’t know. Then, she stared at her secretary as if expecting her to explain. Her secretary shrugged.

“It’s the thesis of an assistant or a student who used to follow Yoo Jae-Han around.”

“What is it about?”

“I don’t know, but the title and the author’s name are right here.”

She looked at it. She had never seen the author’s name before. “Was he a foreigner?”

“Yes.”

The name on the document was Gordon Calamity. He didn’t seem like someone famous.

“Where is he?” asked Ji Ha-Yeon.

“He’s missing.”

“What?”

“He went missing before even Yoo Jae-Han disappeared. No one knows where he is.”

“The contents of his thesis are bizarre like Yoo Jae-Han’s.” Ji Ha-Yeon shrugged. “Anyway, continue investigating. It’s the top priority.”

“Understood.”

“Also, let me know immediately if you find Yoo Jae-Han. There seems to be something behind Elder Lord.”

“Yes.”

Her secretary bowed and left the room. Ji Ha-Yeon stared at the thesis again. It was still incomprehensible to her. As a humanities major, she couldn’t understand someone who studied science. Was he really curious about such a subject to have written a thesis about it?

She couldn’t understand the contents of the thesis, but she had a sense of what he truly wanted to figure out and the message he wanted to convey to others. It was such an old topic that no one cared about it these days. That was probably why he followed around someone like Yoo Jae-Han.

“Can entropy be reversed? Who cares?”

***

Baek Han-Ho furrowed his eyebrows. He had been putting great effort into preparing for the impending war.

—Orc Crockta, who had amazed players all over the world and then disappeared out of the blue, had returned!

—Yes, everyone was shocked when they saw the system-wide message about the orc warrior Crockta defeating the orc chieftain and stopping the war. It’s quite obvious that the message was referring to Crockta, the warrior of justice. The last place Crockta was headed was the north.

—Crockta’s fanclub ‘Praise the Orc’s’ members are increasing again. Moreover, the ‘Rebirth Brotherhood,’ established by taking inspiration from Crockta, is also celebrating this news.

—Will he return to the continent?

—Well, we don’t know. Only NPCs understand the heart of other NPCs. But my personal hope is for a just orc to appear and convey a message of hope to the others because Elder Lord has only been filled with bloody news lately.

—Yoo-Jung, are you also a member of Praise the Orc?

—Hahaha, I’m not, but I want to join!

But the guy called Crockta had prevented him from doing so before he could even start!

“Argh...”

The man who had been sitting in the office of the gym aggressively shut off the television. Then, he exited the office. The members of the gym bowed to him. The man nodded and stood in front of the sandbag for the first time in a while.

The members began to murmur among themselves at Baek Han-Ho’s anger. Baek Han-Ho punched the sandbag. The sandbag swooshed in the air. “Crockta...you bastard!” He had planned to cut off Calmahart’s head and enjoy fame, but someone had beat him to it. “I have to meet him and give him a lesson!”

Moreover, he didn’t like their title as the just orc. Because the title of ‘justice’ belonged to the knight on a white horse, ‘White Knight Andre,’ Baek Han-Ho!