The atmosphere of Palmar City, which was filled with fruit trees, was quite peculiar.
Tall trees had pierced through the four to five story buildings. Fruits dangled off their branches, not to mention the⊠monkeys.
The cityâs evolution into a fruit tree forest had also brought along monkeys. And it wasnât just one type of monkey either; there were all sorts of them here.
Some had long tails, while others had large noses or were extremely furry. They also varied in size.
Plus, they were extremely mischievous. They threw fruit at anyone that passed by.
However, the players enjoyed them, so they didnât take any action against them. After all, they were playing a game, so they wouldnât be hurt much no matter how hard the fruit was.
A white monkey approached the pair and suddenly climbed up to Asuâs shoulder.
Although it was covered in white fur, its hands were black. It began pulling on Asuâs golden hair with its cute, small hands.
âOh, how cute.â Asu looked at the baby monkey and smiled.
Rudy popped out of her buxom. Flames blazed from its cute, beady eyes.
It immediately tackled the monkey. âDonât bother my mom!â, it seemed to say.
The unexpected attack made the monkey go mad. But at the end of the day, it was still a monkey. On the other hand, Rudy was a Phoenix, regardless of how young it was.
It spewed flames from its tiny mouth, surprising the monkey and causing it to run away.
âItâs ok.â Asu calmed Rudy down.
Rudy sat on top of Asuâs head. Then, it watched out for any monkeys that might bother her.
Kang Oh and Asu enjoyed the city, which had become a monkeyâs paradise, for a little while longer, and then went on to their next destination.
The God of Creation had created several species during the Great Change. The Burumon were one such species.
The Burumon were about half as tall as an adult human. They possessed small, round bodies, pudgy bellies, and short arms and legs. Their hair was so long that it touched the ground.
Plus, they were extremely friendly towards other species, which made communicating with them really easy.
Their village was built on the basin that resided in between the central and western regions. Several players visited this area.
The Burumon sang beautiful songs. Beautiful melodies and chords could always be heard throughout the village.
Plus, slapping their pudgy bellies imitated the sound of a drum. Seeing them slap their bellies while singing made people feel happy.
Thus, it always felt like there was a festival going on.
Minstrels, musicians, dancers, etc. visited the village in order to sing songs and dance with them.
Skilled merchants had already begun to sell alcohol, snacks, and other goods here.
Kang Oh and Asu passed the time by listening to their beautiful songs with a glass of beer in their hands.
âThis place is so nice.â Asuâs cheeks were slightly red.
In Arth, drinking alcohol would get you buzzed, but it wouldnât make you drunk. You would have to face a monster that cast a status ailment on you in order to get âdrunkâ.
In any case, it seemed like she really loved the atmosphere in the village.
Two of the Burumon waddled over, grabbed Asuâs hands, and dragged her away.
They tapped their stomachs, imitating the sound of a drum. At the same time, they began to sing songs.
Asu was part of the girl group, Triple Lower, and was both its leader and the main vocalist. When it came to singing, she wouldnât lose to anyone.
She began singing along with the beat. It felt like her voice itself was shining.
At least thatâs what Kang Oh thought.
He sat on a nearby empty stump and watched her.
In no time at all, people began to gather in the festivities. It wasnât surprising. After all, that was how the village worked. When the Burumon began to sing, people gathered around them.
The Burumon began to sing their traditional songs. Asu couldnât really follow along.
Thus, she began to shake her body around.
The Burumonsâ voices were already quite quirky, but the ones with Asu had especially striking voices.
The players began to follow the beat, bobbing their heads, their hands or their feet.
But all of a sudden, five Burumon appeared, who began to sing and pound on their bellies. Their voices joined together in harmony. After all, they were originally part of one team.
Asu pulled away, returned to Kang Ohâs side, and sat beside him on the stump.
Kang Oh gave her a thumbs up. âYouâre the best.â
She snatched his glass and drank down the rest of his beer.
âPhew.â Asu shook the empty glass and beamed. Then, she locked arms with him and leaned on his shoulder.
âOppa, letâs stay here a little longer.â
Kang Oh had originally planned to go someplace else. There were plenty of places worth seeing, after all.
However, those plans were pointless now.
Kang Oh and Asu stayed in the Burumon Village until night came, watching the sun go down.
A sweet sound could be heard in the night.
TGN, VG, and GBS were feeling really antsy.
The whole world was focused on the Great Change right now. So what if they were to add Kang Ohâs footage to this?
They would easily pass 10% viewership. In fact, they may pass 20%.
Moreover, people overseas were excited about it too.
If Kang Oh sold them exclusive rights to his footage and it were properly edited, then they could sell it to the U.S., Japan, China, etc. with ease.
Arth had maintained global interest for quite some time. However, Arth had begun in Korea for half a year before anyone else had access. Only after that did servers for the other countries open.
Koreans, which were said to have gaming in their DNA, had gotten access to Arth for half a year longer than anyone else. Thus, all of the Numbers were Korean.
Plus, the 4 great guilds were all Korean, and most of the large guilds were operated by Koreans as well.
In any case, this is why Koreaâs gaming networks prioritized Arth over all else.
Ultimately, the other countries were forced to buy footage from Koreaâs broadcast networks.
Of course, they didnât buy everything. The overseas networks made their own footage, after all.
However, they would have no choice but to buy Kang Ohâs footage this time!
In the end, TGN, VG, and GBS were confident that theyâd be able to make a killing, regardless of how much they paid Kang Oh.
Thatâs why they wanted to have exclusive rights to Kang Ohâs footage.
Thus began their competition.
TGN made an offer first. They offered him 1.5 billion won ($1.5 million USD).
However, this quickly became 2 billion won.
This is when TGN, which had the least monetary resources, began to add other incentives to their offer. They offered him a percentage of their advertising revenue, as well as a percentage of their sales to other countries, etc.
However, GBS and VG werenât willing to back down. They added incentives of their own. Not only that, but they raised their offer to 2.5 billion won.
In the end, TGN was forced to resign. Thus, GBS and VG fought in earnest.
As a result, GBS came out on top, as they were backed by a huge parent company.
Their final offer was 3.3 billion 800 million won. This also included incentives such as a percentage of their ad revenue, as well as a percentage of their profit from overseas sales.
âHurray!â Jae Woo raised his hands into the air.
GBS put all of their resources into Jae Wooâs footage. They edited it, readied the program, created promotional material, and pre-sold it to overseas networks.
âLetâs shoot for more than 20%, and hit rank 1!â GBSâs director gathered all of his employees and yelled.
Change was accompanied by both joy and pain.
Although Mayaâs changes made several people happy, it also caused huge chaos.
Various incidents occurred all across the continent. There were plenty of people attempting to make use of this change in order to make a profit.
There were battles everywhere.
âThe Forney are being oppressed. Save them. If they go extinct, then the continent will face the God of Creationâs wrath,â the Whispers of the Earth said.
[Guardian of the Continent Quest: Aid the Forney]
The Forney Tribe, which suddenly appeared in the Phamas Mountains, has been caught and oppressed by the Black Bandana Brigade. Save them, and help them settle in a safe location.
Minimum Requirements: Guardian of the Continent.
Failure: God of Creationâs Wrath.
Since Valan was still healing from his wounds, Kang Oh was the only available Guardian of the Continent at the moment.
Following the Great Change, however, Kang Oh was constantly given quest after quest.
âHaa, itâs the Phamas Mountains this time.â Kang Oh sighed. Heâd just come back from the north, the land of ice and illusions.
His recent quest was to protect the Forney, one of the God of Creationâs newly created species, and/or stop the Black Bandana Brigade from doing any more harm.
The Guardian of the Continentâs role was to prevent any incidents that may cause chaos across the continent.
But if he failed to protect this new species, then the God of Creationâs wrath would sweep through the continent.
âYeah, I know I told him Iâd punish his children when they were being bad, but⊠Whyâs he asking me to punish an entire species? And whatâs with his anger?â
However, there was nothing as dangerous as the God of Creationâs wrath. For example, what if he were to create and set off a volcano in a large city like Altein?
âI canât let that happen.â
Kang Oh immediately headed for the Phamas Mountains.
Eder and Sephiro werenât with him.
Eder was treating Gainusâs wounds in the dragonâs nest, so he couldnât leave at the moment. On the other hand, Sephiro said he was busy while Waryongâs wing was healing.
At least he had Tasha and Sara with him.
âIt changed,â Sara looked around and said.
There were definitely a few mountaintops sheâd never seen before.
According to the community sites, it wasnât just mountaintops. There were new caves, cliffs, valleys, waterfalls, other dangerous locations, etc.
Moreover, there were apparently some new dungeons here too.
âI want to explore the dungeons!â
How could he pass up an opportunity like that?
Kang Oh planned on finishing the Guardian of the Continent Quest, which had no reward by the way, and then go through all of the dungeons here.
Kang Oh found the Black Bandana Brigadeâs hideout.
There were several holes throughout the vertical cliff, which made the interior as complex as an ant tunnel.
âWhere are the Forney being imprisonedâŠ?â
The Black Bandana Brigade was a gang of bandits that operated on the Phamas Mountains.
They, like their namesake, wore black bandanas around their heads. They were made up of humans, intelligent monsters, and non-humans that went around robbing others.
In the past, the Arabas, Dellas, and Baiyan Kingdoms had led an expedition against them. However, they had, like cockroaches, survived, and amassed forces once more after time had passed.
With the Empire Guild taking control of the three eastern kingdoms, there was no longer anyone to stop them. Thus, their numbers had swelled significantly.
âIntruders,â the gatekeeper yelled, seeing the three approach.
He was a man with a robust body, a wicked face, and a black bandana around his head.
There was also an orc with tusks that protruded out of his mouth. He too wore a black bandana around his head.
Aside from them, there were twenty bandits sitting around a bonfire.
âTake them down,â Kang Oh said.
âItâs hunting time.â Tasha smiled wickedly, and gathered blood red energy in her hands.
Sara furrowed her brow as if she were disgusted by their appearance, transformed her hands into ice drills, and rushed into the fray.
They were up against the Great Forestâs Demon, as well as the Ice Queen, who threatened to freeze half of the continent in solid ice.
The bandits were no match for them.
They screamed, cursed, and yelled in agony. One or two of them began to fall at a time.
One of the bandits forcefully blew on a whistle.
Kang Oh cut his head with Demon Sword Ubist.
When they were finished with the bandits, several more popped out of the entrance like a swarm of bats.
âWho are you!?â the ringleader scowled and yelled.
A fiercely spinning jet-black greatsword flew at him!
The greatsword ripped right through the ringleader.
Having lost their boss, the bandits momentarily panicked.
âI wonât let a single one of you go!â
Kang Ohâs brutal voice resounded throughout the cliff, causing his enemies to tremble in fear.
They had gotten the drop on them.