What the hell had happened here?! Pearls of sweat instantly formed on his forehead, slowly trickling down his face. Timber City was extremely hot!
But that’s when he saw the Trial Towers above. One of them was radiating powerful fiery gales like a colossal heater.
[Welcome back to Infinite!]
[Successfully Damaged a Trial Land!]
[Quest! Ice Tortoise’s Death Aftermath!]
[Acquired Title: World Destructor +DMG to Realms!]
What the actual F?!
There were already a few players pointing his way.
Jack instantly ran into an alley, disguising himself and coming back out afterward. He went to check on the trial Tower, and the whole thing was a mess, players crowding.
The poor Jelly NPC was half-melting from the heat and couldn’t even create a coherent sentence. [Welc— Error Error! Trial L%#$!]
1. Skyland
2. ———
3. Hellish Scape
The Iceland Trial was totally inaccessible.
The culprit was obvious….but thankfully, the leaderboard was a player-only function.
The elemental balance had been broken, and the climate had changed as a result. The only way to possibly return things to normal would be to shatter the other two. But how?!
Jack’s gaze turned resolute. It was time for a big move!
Without hesitating, he glanced at the fiery, hellish portal and— left. Yep, no freaking way he was heading in there to die! He’d just end up with a curse!
He quickly arranged a meeting with his people.
~ In a small Teashop ~
”Everyone, we have to do something about this heat!” Jack powerfully declared, his audience’s eyes lighting up. Of course, their Boss had a plan!
”I’m talking travel agencies, lemonade stands, refreshing pools, ice cubes sold as a luxury item, and ice-enchanted weapons! So much gold potential!”
”?!?”
”The climate in Sprigfield and the Capital should still be the same for now. Let’s exploit this hot weather while we still can!!”
0_0
The demon shyly raised his hand. “Boss, the heat is increasing by the second. In a few weeks, there won’t be any life left in this place….”
[The Situation is Dire! Will you—]
”Precisely! We only have a few weeks, so get to work, everyone!” Jack enthusiastically clapped his hands, dismissing employees and system windows alike.
The NPCs were freaking out, the players were excited about the challenge, not understanding how difficult it would be, yet Jack only cared about business?!
At this moment, he seemed utterly mad!
The thing was, even he wasn’t sure how to solve this issue. The only reason he had defeated the Tortoise was the Igloo Creation skill.
The two remaining behemoths would be the Eternal Wind Destroyer and the Ginormous Fiery Mad Snail if he remembered correctly.
This gave him two objectives:
- Devise an OP flying device
- Find a way to create infinite water
The two were near impossible. He had to somehow remember bugs/exploits that he could use to clear that. Otherwise, he’d spend the rest of his life trying to defeat them.
God, this was such a pain! Why was it that every time he did something, the system would create a disaster associated with it?!
Oh well… he’d just have to keep thinking. At least someone was enjoying the new weather. Jack glanced amusedly at his companion…
”Woo!” (This is kind of fun!)
The little wolf was jumping around in excitement; it felt so warm! They could have trounced the traitorous snow if they had this heat in the Iceland trial!
Just as Jack was lost in thoughts, a messenger ran to him. “Sir, the Union is organizing a meeting! They beg of you to dispense your wisdom, my Lord!!” He bowed lowly.
Jack couldn’t help but chuckle. They wanted his help? He was the one that had caused the problem in the first place!
It was like asking an arsonist to work at a gas station or a serial killer to become a cop. It was the worst decision ever! Oh well, he would give advice, alright! The best kind of advice!
”Alright, lead the way.”
”Thank God! Follow me, Sir!”
A scheming grin already adorned his face. Oh, this would be fun! Whether his advice would actually help the City was an entirely different matter…
━━━━━━ POV ━━━━━━━
”Gasp!” A man sweaty all over suddenly woke up.
What was up with this insupportable heat?! Was someone torturing him? Who dared?! He was the Royal Seer, after all!
”Sir! You’re finally awake!”A maid rushed to his side.
It didn’t take him long to get up, grumbling all the while. He was in a lavish guest room belonging to Lord Silver. Good, the man still had a conscience.
But he quickly dismissed all thoughts about meeting his host. Who cared about him? There were Trial Towers out there! He hurried out, not minding the frantic screams of the maid.
But as he gazed upon the Towering Structures, his eyes bulged with fright. What kind of a catastrophe had happened while he was sleeping?!
He ran closer, his heart almost stopping. This wasn’t just a Disaster. It was a Calamity! The heated wind showed no sign of stopping at all!
He instantly saw through what would soon happen.
1. Discomfort
2. Heavy Drought
3. Spontaneous Combustion
4. Creation of a perfect Fire Biome
This was no accident, nor a natural disaster either. Someone had voluntarily destroyed one of the trial lands!
Their goal was obvious, to make the terrain perfect for a monster invasion! Fire monsters? Salamanders? Elementals? Fiery Demons, perhaps? Either way, he had to stop it!
Wait, Fiery Demons?! What if the earlier demonic energy outbreak was connected?! It had to be! The Royal Seer suddenly turned pale, porting inside the Trial Tower.
A glance was all it took to confirm his hypothesis.
In passing, he saw tons of Braves crowding around a deflated Jelly, others staring at empty air madly.
”~Sucks! I haven’t tried the Iceland yet! I wanted to make a snowman….”
”Meh, it was horrible anyway. I lost my little brother to the frost! Lil bro’s a water mage. He froze as soon as he tried casting.”
The Braves really were foolish! Even now, they were casually gossiping. So what if they could revive? They were still inhabitants of this world…
”I have to hurry up, or the entire world will be destroyed….” The Royal Seer solemnly mumbled. That’s when Braves gathered around him.
”Is he a quest NPC?”
”Why’s he half-naked?”
”Shh— Sir, do you require assistance?”
Did they want to help? Fine! “Listen well. The world is ending!….”
He made the most glorious speech ever, enumerating the enemy’s plan. He had guessed it all thanks to his incredible prescience.
But then something weird happened. As he mentioned the otherworldly invaders that had already sent their spies to infiltrate human society, they stopped listening.
”Tch— Never mind, it was only a crazy conspiracy theorist.” They’d sneer as they ran away. What?! The Royal Seer Spoke the truth, and yet they refused to listen…
Little did both parties know that this NPC’s Quest was closely related to the “Investigate” Quest they had previously received.
The Seer didn’t stay to convince them anymore, lumping all the Braves together. This time he headed toward the Commerce Union. They would listen for sure!
He powerfully pushed their HQ’s doors open, intruding upon a meeting.
”It’s urgent. We have to do something about the Heat!!” He screamed, the 20-ish merchants at the jade table glancing his way.
The man looked very silly, half-dressed and all, but the guards had let him pass even then. Who was he? Either way, they gave him a reassuring glance.
”Do not worry. We already have a plan ready to deal with it!” Their smiles were so confident they almost blinded him.
The Seer choked for an instant. He had expected opposition, denial, and discord to slow down the process. But they all seemed on the same page?!
”R-really?!”
”Why don’t you take a seat.” A youngster calmly offered.
It’s only then that the Seer noticed him. He wasn’t eye-catching, yet he had a certain aura of influence. All the merchants were even looking at him with admiration, all!!
The Royal Seer couldn’t help but be impressed, even looking forward to their plan. The youngster took the lead, resuming the meeting.
”Now, where were we? Oh right, the East slide. Here’s my idea for this one….”
”Ah, what about adding a part of it in the air?!”
”Oh! That sounds pretty cool indeed….”
They enthusiastically talked more and more about something called “Water-Land”. At first, the Royal Seer was confused, but the more they spoke and the stiffer his face became.
”A water park?!!! That’s your solution?! That’s bullshit!”
”….”
”Are you all crazy?! Listen well. The world is ending! We—”
Just as the Royal Seer was getting into his world-end tirade, Jack suddenly cut him off, hijacking the speech.
”First, it will be an inconvenience, then a drought, but then….” The more he spoke, the stranger the Seer’s face became.
This was 99.9% his speech! The 0.1% remaining were improvements! Could this guy read his mind?! No, he would have sensed it… how was this possible?!
Jack couldn’t help but inwardly snicker. He just happened to have the forums open, reading a thread called ‘Crazy Conspiracy Theorist Spotted!’
Even after his speech ended, the Seer was still shellshocked.
”T-then why…this?” He asked weakly.
”Oh? It just happens that the tools we’ll use to build the attraction park are the same that will be needed to destroy the remaining two realms and bring balance to the world.”
”Destroy?! Shouldn’t we restore the Iceland instead?!”
”Sigh, such a Noob. You, who are you again?”
He didn’t know what Noob meant, but the sigh was one of disappointment.
For the first time in his life, the Royal Seer was being looked down on by someone. He should have felt angry, and yet…why did he feel ashamed?
”I’m the Royal Seer from the Capital…”
”?!?”
What the actual fuck was he doing here?! At this moment, even Jack lost his bearings. But suddenly, a crazy idea wormed its way into his mind….