Chapter 206

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Translated by Jinmu
Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net
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“Advance disclosure?”

A notice came up less than a day after the update started.

Han-bit spoke, pointing to the monitor.

“Let’s take a look at the contents.”

“Ah, yes!”

Na Ye-ri quickly moved the mouse and clicked on the notice board post.

[Pre-disclosure of key changes in the first update.]

Hello. This is Record Project.

As the end time of the first update currently in progress has been confirmed for 6 PM tomorrow, we are pre-disclosing the major changes.

1. Expansion of General Fields and Restricted Areas

Inactive general fields and restricted areas will be activated.

Following the area expansion, maps implemented as systems and items will all be modified.

2. Addition of Starting Cities

Eladis, the Temple of Wisdom city of the Holy State, is added to the starting city list.

New players who create accounts after the update can choose one of the three starting cities upon character creation.

3. Opening of the Faction System

The faction systems of the Hardliners, Moderates, and Sacred Body Faction will be opened.

Upon choosing the first starting city, you are automatically affiliated with a faction, and you can change factions once thereafter through a ‘Conversion’ quest.

Edlen (Hardliners): Confirmed Erport as an enemy, aiming to eliminate them.

Belmora (Moderates): Aims to identify Erport’s identity and prioritizes dialogue.

Eladis (Sacred Body Faction): Receives an oracle from the Creator God and worships Erport as a Sacred Body.

These factions can also be granted to NPCs and depend on individual tendencies rather than place of origin or region.

The faction system will be used in various content plays in the future.

4. Removal of PK Penalties and Strengthening of Death Penalties

All penalties previously given for PK (Player Killing) are deleted.

(However, in safe zones such as cities and towns, strong sanctions by defense NPCs may be imposed.)

Upon death in all areas except quest fields, the following penalties apply.

– Significant decrease in possessed experience and level drop

– Significant decrease in skill proficiency

– Random drop of possessed gold and items

– Resurrection waiting time and debuff application

– Strengthening of penalties according to the accumulation of death counts within a certain period

5. Change in Ranking System

The Advance Party ranking system is deleted, and the notation is changed to Overall Ranking.

The corresponding ranking can be checked on the homepage every day at midnight.

“Uh…”

Na Ye-ri, who had been reading through the contents, showed a surprised reaction.

It wasn’t that there were great visual materials like updates for other games.

However, it was a change that anyone who knew RP had no choice but to be surprised by.

“What are they really thinking?”

Han-bit’s question was directed at the developer Team Zero, and the Goddess standing behind them.

The update was timed exactly when he cleared the Raven Kingdom episode and rose to the status of an investigation team candidate.

He didn’t think it was a coincidence that players from the Holy State had appeared.

However, he hadn’t expected it to be revealed so extensively, even under the leadership of the game company.

“Wow, is PK for real? The death penalty is really harsh too.”

Yeon-woo had been checking the contents together from the side at some point.

His gaze stopped at the PK entry.

“If it’s like this… wouldn’t the disruption to play be too great?”

Na Ye-ri, who checked all of Han-bit’s broadcasts live, expressed concern about the progress.

The attackers had interfered with the progress several times.

In the recent recording delivered during the night, there were even players from the Holy State who intervened in the episode.

But if the game company showed a gesture of encouraging PK, only chaos could be pictured.

“The overall game flow will be centered around PK, but we’ll be fine. Anyway, the restricted areas we’ll proceed to immediately are difficult to even approach, and if they happen to visit, we can just kill them. Since the death penalty has also become stronger, it will be a good example.”

If it were simply giving weight to PK, Han-bit would have also complained.

However, if the death penalty was applied that heavily, it wouldn’t be easy to approach with a light heart.

If they truly intended to interfere with him, the enemies also needed resolution.

‘I’ll have to be careful in the fields too.’

Losing experience, levels, skill proficiency, and such due to death wasn’t that big a blow to Han-bit.

However, the random drop of possessed items was different.

If he died in an open field and lost an item, it would be difficult to expect to get it back.

“The community is in an uproar.”

Yeon-woo, who brought up an RPG site, watched the heated atmosphere.

It was also update content that a player would have no choice but to be flustered by.

Pre-disclosure of update contents appeared on the Record Project homepage.

Check the screenshots for contents.

– ??

– Is this for real?

– Starting cities are being added?

– Holy State?

– Why remove PK penalties?

– The death penalty is freaking harsh. lol

– Is chaos coming?

– Can we just go to the Holy State after doing the conversion quest?

└ For real, joining up is not bad.

└ The Holy State is getting more and more OP.

– Upvote if you’re already craving faction wars.

– In the meantime, they’re finally disclosing rankings.

– Is it rankers now instead of Advance Party?

– 1st place *thump thump*

– Who is it really?

People were enjoying dissecting the notice items one by one.

As a big change was scheduled, most showed an excited appearance.

“How about Astra?”

“Astra?”

At that question, Han-bit checked the app on his smartphone.

Scanning through the list of latest posts, he shrugged his shoulders.

“It’s similar. Although there are more private messages.”

Messages significantly increased after the pre-disclosure notice of the update.

As they were the existing Advance Party members active in restricted areas, there were many more solid proposals.

Of course, it was still premature to do something with them.

After pondering for a moment, Han-bit immediately made a decision.

“We should have a preliminary meeting. Let’s all gather tomorrow.”

***

The next morning.

Han-bit was making eye contact with a 4-year-old girl in the living room of a house.

“…”

“…?”

A child whose clear eyes sparkled without saying a word sat before him.

The giraffe doll held in her small hands was in a state where its neck hung limp.

“Hyung, wouldn’t there be someone more suitable than me?”

“Why? She seems to like you a lot.”

Kim Jae-ha, who was preparing drinks in the kitchen, spoke with a smirk.

The one making eye contact with Han-bit in silence was his daughter.

It was 4-year-old Kim Yun-ah, whose inner thoughts could not be gauged at all.

‘My wife is going out tomorrow morning, so I have to watch my daughter. If it’s okay, do you want to talk at our house?’

It was an unexpected meeting place decided by Kim Jae-ha’s contact last night.

Han-bit thought he might be able to play with the child, but they had only been making eye contact for almost 10 minutes.

He couldn’t even avoid it because he thought it would be a wound to her.

“I think it’s the first time I’ve seen Hyung freeze up. Isn’t she a worthy opponent?”

Yeon-woo laughed as if this situation was fun.

Then, Avant-garde stepped forward to support.

“It seems I should step in. I have three nephews and nieces, so I used to play with them quite well.”

He took out a handkerchief and a coin from his pocket.

Then he began to demonstrate a light magic trick.

Whish—!

“How is it? It disappeared, right?”

“…”

Despite that effort, Yun-ah showed no interest at all.

Instead, she took a step closer to Han-bit and began to silently look up at his face.

“Yun-ah, come here.”

Then, Haneul, who was watching this situation, stretched out both arms.

The child, who was only watching Han-bit, turned her head abruptly and approached her older sister to be hugged.

“It worked well with my nephews and nieces…”

Avant-garde muttered, looking slightly depressed.

Kim Jae-ha, who had prepared drinks and snacks, returned to the living room.

“Don’t mind it too much. It’s a period where interests are very firm.”

Laughing softly, he delivered a light consolation.

And while distributing the drinks, he looked at Han-bit.

“If it’s to the extent of needing a preliminary meeting, it’s quite serious, right?”

Kim Jae-ha had also checked the contents immediately after the notice was posted.

He was equally surprised, but since he was one who decided to put weight on the blacksmith side, he was planning to take a step back from the front line.

“Should I also proceed with the episode together after all? Would I not be of much help?”

“You would be a big help, but Hyung, please focus on the blacksmith role. In the future, you’ll have to pay a lot of attention not only to weapons but also to armor and magic tools. Without those, our studio will be in a lot of trouble.”

“…Well, my shoulders are pleasantly heavy. I’ll try hard.”

Kim Jae-ha was strengthening his resolution with a faint smile.

If it was him, he would probably produce even better results than expected.

“The reason I called for a preliminary meeting like this is simple. It’s to decide the course of action after the update.”

“If it’s a course of action… Is it because of PK after all?”

No-eul, who was sitting in the next seat, slightly brought it up.

Han-bit nodded and said.

“Right. They might test the waters at first, but eventually, the restricted areas will become a mess. Especially the players belonging to the Holy State will try to kill other factions.”

There were various update items, but the most primitive one was PK by force.

Unlike before, if they could obtain gold and items, there was rather no reason not to kill the enemy.

They would probably engage in a slaughter even among the same faction if they judged them as easy targets.

Slide—

Han-bit took out the RP map he had purchased in advance and spread it on the floor.

And pointing to the northern frontier of the Raven Kingdom, he said.

“Episode 7 will be centered here. We will go straight here as soon as the game server opens.”

“Eh? Didn’t you say an examiner will come out from the investigation team? I thought the episode would open only if we meet in the Royal Capital.”

Haneul, who was listening to the story, raised a question.

It was an accurate point.

“Usually that’s the case, but to clear the episode quickly, it’s right to go to the testing ground first. Even if skipping like in Temosha is difficult, the goal is to proceed as quickly as possible from Episode 7 to 9. Ah, and for this, the roles of Jae-ha Hyung and Avant-garde-ssi are important.”

“Is that so for me too?”

Avant-garde, who was silently listening to the story, shifted his gaze as if a little surprised.

Han-bit nodded and said.

“The most important variable is the players belonging to the Holy State. I would like Avant-garde-ssi to gather any information regarding this side. As there is also the Adventurer A incident, even a small clue is needed.”

“…I understood exactly what you mean. Fortunately, among the player black markets that have become accessible, the outskirts of the Holy State have also been added, so I think some information might come out.”

“That’s good. I look forward to it.”

The unexpected news was quite welcome.

As the Holy State had a very closed habit even in the outskirts, if he could access that place, there would definitely be a harvest.

Vrrr—

Around the time the meeting had been in progress for about an hour.

A vibration rang from Han-bit’s smartphone.

Diorama’s name was floating on the screen.

Click—

He immediately accepted the call.

“Hello?”

(Ah, Black Dragon-nim! I know our appointment is for 2 PM, but something urgent came up, so I contacted you! Are you seeing the news articles coming up now?)

“News articles?”

At the somewhat strange words, Han-bit turned his gaze to the side.

Yeon-woo, responding to that, quickly turned on his smartphone and entered the portal main.

But.

“Ah…”

Yeon-woo’s expression hardened as he looked at the screen.

Frowning slightly, he turned the screen toward Han-bit.

The first thing seen was a single line of a headline from an RP specialist reporter.