The World of Masks

The blue meadow spreads out as you exit through the blue waters. The faint breeze blows the name of the weeds that cover your feet. Jinseok took a step outside for many years. A wall that was only visible far away was in front of you. It was a typical gray wall with large stones piled up gradually. On the side of the wall, which showed the overwhelming majesty, the inner wall was flowing. Although there were no small animals that would come to mind if they were near the castle wall, the landscape was reminiscent of a picture with unnamed birds flying over the grasslands.

Jinseok continued to walk along the path. You see people lining up at the entrance to a large wall from a distance. I thought it might be an identity check to enter the castle. The person who hangs out and chats with the person next to him, the person who waits silently for his turn, the person who caresses the horse dragging the large cart, and the person who rides the cart and bounces off the elongated plank. There were all kinds of people there.

As Jinsuk approached, there began to be a murmur among the people. A person wearing a white mask is approaching his whole body, so it is natural for him to feel embarrassed. No, we had to run everywhere screaming in horror. However, people did not seem to feel any fear, just grumbling and staring at the truth.

"I'm a traveler. I just got here."

"I've never seen a traveler before. Wow. You're really wearing a mask."

"Then why are you running around in circles?"

"I just got here. I don't have anything to change into. A novice traveler is no different than a beggar."

The curious eyes looked like he had become a monkey in the zoo. However, he scratched the back of his head and stood at the back of the rope.

"Hey! Hey! You!"

Who is he calling? Jin turns his head to the place where he heard the sound unconsciously. There, you see a soldier wearing armor and a sword around his waist. Probably a guard guarding this gate. The soldier who was walking along the line outside the gate he was guarding stopped in front of Jin.

"Are you a traveler?"

Jinsuk nods. Then the soldier motioned to follow Jin and began to lead the way. It was a sudden situation, but it wasn't a bad mood, so Jin followed the guards without a word. Passing by another guard listening to the identification card and the purpose of the visit, the guard enters the gate. I admire the fact that you walked through the gates with the guards. There was a medieval city with only movies and paintings. There stood typical medieval Western houses made of stone and brick, leaving an unpacked dirt path between them. The house was generally modest. Perhaps the climate here was warm and people were mainly outdoorsy. Most of the houses were made up of three-story buildings, mostly on the second floor, because they were in a confined space inside the castle. Following the guard who continues to lead you somewhere, Jinseong's head shifts hard to the left and to the right. I can't even pay to see it in real life. Aside from the minimal effort not to miss the leading guard, Jin tried to engrave a little more of the surrounding landscape on the retina. Like the village that had just admired the city, Jinseok was guided to the church with a big bell tower.

What do they call this? Gothic? Baroque? No, is it a completely different form? Looking at the church standing magnificently surrounded by a sacred atmosphere, I tried to extract even vague knowledge that I learned in middle school or high school. When Jinsuk was consuming precious calories for something so trivial, the guard who led him to his death knocked on the church door.

Boom. Boom.

A person comes out of the door, knocking with his fist, and waiting for a moment. I looked at him as a priest or a priest or something. Whatever the guard was talking with the bride pointing to the stone with his finger, the guard soon left the stone alone and walked back to the gate. Suddenly, I was alone, and someone tapped the jewel that was staring at me as if it were a barley sack. As Jinsuk turned his head, there he saw a bride smiling nicely.

"Hanyoung, traveler. I'm Yorva, and I'm here to help you get used to the world in a basic way."

"Oh! Hello."

Even in this game, which is based on Western culture, I saw the thought of bowing my head awkwardly in Jorba's hospitality. Jorba smiles and stares at the truth.

"Please come in. I'll have a cup of tea."

Jorba took the truth and went inside the church. As soon as I entered, I saw a large empty cavity. At the end, it seemed like a place for mass or worship, seeing items like altars on the other side. Jinseok followed Jorba into the corridor to the right of the cavity. Jorba, who was walking down the hallway, led him to his quarters.

In the room, there was only a bookshelf with tables, chairs, and books. It was small and frugal.

"Please wait here for a moment."

Jorba leaves the stone in her room and leaves the door open again. Jinsuk, who stood still for a while, sat down and looked around the room, thinking that he was standing like this. Seeing that there was no bed, I thought it might not be a bedroom, like a reception room, and I looked out the window. A white puddle of clouds floats beneath the blue sky.

'Peace.'

The view outside the window was fantastic enough for that unconscious thinking to pass by.

"Beautiful world, isn't it?"

It was Jorba who put the seemingly crumbling cup of tea in front of the stone.

"Yes, it really is."

"Hehe. People who are new to this world usually have a very small reaction."

Jorba proudly said, sitting across from Jin. I felt proud of this world, God's creation, as a man who follows God.

"Have you seen a lot of travelers?"

"I almost took care of the tourists who came to the city. I'm in charge of this temple."

Was it a temple? It looked like a nondescript church or church. As it turned out, Jorba's outfit in front of her was also more of a priest's than a bride's outfit. Light cultural shock due to cultural differences swept through the truth, but soon it was more convincing. Honestly, it's not a temple or a church or a priest or a priest or anything. Those who were obsessed with the religion may have opinions, but the truth was religious godlessness.

"Let's get down to business. Just to confirm, are you a recent traveler to this part of the world?"

"Yes. It was about five hours ago that I actually stepped foot in this world."

"I see."

Jorba puts her hand in her arms, takes out a piece of paper, opens the lid of the ink that was on the table, and dips the feather pen into the ink.

"We are working to create identities for those who first set foot in this world."

Then, this time, you take out a gem from your chest. His eyebrows twitched.

"A jewel of contract."

"Huh. Did you know?"

"Yes. As soon as I got here, the robbers had them."

Jorba's face hardens horribly.

"Robbers. I can see why you have them. How are you feeling?"

"Yes. Luckily, they were nothing, so I got rid of them."

"That's fortunate. We are troubled by the rampages targeting novice travelers near the Holy Neutral City these days. Even if we subdue them, they'll show up again. There are no such pests."

The excitement of shaking his head made Jorba tired, too.

"I'm supposed to explain this gemstone, but since you already know it, I'll skip it. I want you to take an oath on this gem."

Jinsuk frowned into the mask. I was aware of the dangers of this jewel because it was filled with robbers.

"I don't want to."

"Of course you do. But we also need to make sure that you are a real novice traveler. because criminals and runaway slaves who have difficulty identifying themselves are often attempting to impersonate novice travelers."

Now NPCs impersonate players. It was a game I really went to.

"If you want, you can leave this world for a while and come back. Isn't that enough to identify the traveler?"

"Unfortunately, some criminals are travelers. Rather, it's more troublesome to check that way. You can mimic novice travelers more skillfully than the rest of the world."

"I see. But I don't want to risk it."

"I understand."

Jorba takes a sip of tea for a moment.

"There's only one condition I require. Answer the question: has it been a day since you have left your novice village? This contract is for one question only and the traveler is only required to say either Yes or No. I think this is acceptable."

I thought it was true. There was no other interpretation to answer with a short answer, but the question also explained in detail the simple content. We did not simply ask whether we are beginners, because the concept of beginners can be different from one another. There's nothing wrong with that kind of question. Jinsuk nods.

"Very well. But what if I refuse here in my old age?"

"Unfortunately, the traveler is not allowed to travel without identification."

"This is going to be a real pain in the ass. 'Jorba's grinning face could not be so disgusting.

"I'm sure some travelers will come after a day."

"You can say yes to that. We have a few more questions for you."

I felt like I was prepared for almost all possibilities, just as there were occasions. A short sigh of relief allowed him to be recognized as a novice traveler through the gem of the contract. After confirmation, Jorba reaches out to Jin.

"I apologize for my rudeness. However, this is absolutely necessary for us."

"No. If it's confirmed, that's fine."

Jinsuk also held his hand and waved lightly.

"Thank you for your understanding. But in my world, it's pretty rude to use a jewel of contract to verify the truth, so I don't feel guilty. I've done the same for a lot of travelers, but I'm not really used to it. If God hadn't entrusted us with this gem himself, we wouldn't be doing this."

"Is it rude?"

"Ah! I see you don't know this either. It would be very rude to use the jewelry of the contract on our part to prove the truth as it is now. If you use this, say," I don't believe you, so swear on your life. It means ". So if you use the jewelry of the contract to prove the truth, people around you will pay a lot of attention. The next time you see something like that, just ignore it. Even so, there's no penalty at all. Rather, those who push in the jewels of the contract and force them to reveal the truth will have a much colder look."

"Is it still that rude?"

"As a man of God, I don't mean to say this, but people always need a little something to hide. Because of this jewel, that culture is created by the fear that the inside of you can be exposed. Personally, I think it's better than being abused."

"I see. Then it won't be much use. This gem."

"Yes. The effect is absolute, but the risk is too great. It's unreasonable to think you have to risk your life to get a contract. If I die, I'll even use it in the Lord and Knight's Pledge of Loyalty. When you say the terms of a contract, if you write a sentence that is acceptable to the other person and think differently about the interpretation, the other person will be stuck, and they will be forced to break their trust as if it were a jewel of the contract. In the old days, it used to be that we never achieved what we wanted from each other by giving each other a phrase that would help us write the terms of the contract."

Jinseok glances down at the rolling gemstone on the table. Even in the history of the NPC of this game, he seemed to have been a troublesome gem as well as a deceptive jewel.

"Does it even work? This one."

"It does. It's used for really important contracts. However, when that happens, we carefully examine the questions to be contracted and put in supplements to ensure that they do not lead to other interpretations. But it's a nuisance. Once upon a time, when two kingdoms used the jewels of a contract to enter into a treaty, the terms of the contract were about a page of books, but the subsidies that were inserted to prevent the other interpretation of those terms were beyond the laughter of two parchments. And yet, it's sometimes used. Even if you have a flaw, it's never going to work. Ah! Some people use it often."

"Who is it?"

"Slavers and bandits."

Jorba said bitterly.

"If you put a knife to a contract unilaterally, every reasonable person will accept it, and every bandit or slaver has one. Thieves try to rob the rest of the attackers, enslavers try to coerce the slaves."

Jorba squeezes back at the car, making sure his mouth is dry. Then, he lifts up the gem of the contract rolling on the table with a sad look in his eyes.

"This gem is quite expensive. And it's rare because it's a magical object. It can be produced in a horse tower in each country. It has a set number of uses, so when you run out of usage, you have to go back to the tower and recharge. It costs a lot of money to recharge. But large-scale bandits and slavers can afford it and use it. That's how much you can rob a man."

"The bandits I took this gem from didn't seem to be that big."

Jin thought of the quadruple robbers who were trembling in front of him. Neither size nor skill seemed to be tied to the giant bandits Jorba spoke of.

In fact, if you think about it now, it seems that even the characteristics of the jewelry of the contract were unilaterally mocked and died, and you were either pretty stupid or you didn't know how to use the jewelry of the contract properly. Well, if they were well-educated or well-brained, they wouldn't be doing that.

"That's a lot of money to raid a novice traveler. to the extent that they could afford such an expensive magical object."

Jorba said bitterly. Even if you rob a novice traveler, you will be followed by the Beads of Life and the Magic Bracelet Storage. Most of the people who have the treasure there are novices who don't have the ability to defend themselves. Maybe a rookie player raid in this game is a high-value industry that makes surprisingly high returns with low capital.

'It won't be easy to use either.'

I kicked my tongue as if it were a pity. However, I did not think that I would never use it. This gem could still be a really fun toy if you use it well.

"Oh, dear. We're missing the point. This is why you have to die when you get old."

"No, it was informative."

I really thought so. In this unfriendly game, little information seemed like a drought to Jin who was thirsty for information.

"I'm glad you feel that way. So let's move on with the process."

Jorba first pulls the piece of paper from the table out in front of the auditorium. Paper technology was not very good, and some questions were written on a rough, brown paper with a colorful handwriting. It wasn't Korean. It wasn't a foreign language that Jin knew. But somehow, the meaning of the writing in front of the prophetic eyes came into the mind of the true. Then, the conversation between himself and NPCs was also not Korean.

'Did you have this function?'

Jinsuk was amazed again. Teaching them words and writing that they do not know at all. If the apprentice hears about it, they will not stop drooling. Saab admired the excellence of the game and read the contents of the paper.

"What's written on it is the basics. First, you will be issued a card as a traveler from the Holy Neutral City. Of course, depending on the behavior of the traveler, you may acquire the nationality of another country in the future. The Holy Neutral City is not the only place here. I don't know the exact number, but there are many scattered around the world, literally a city centered on a shrine to God, and it doesn't belong in any country. God serves different cities, and by the way, it serves the god of agriculture and abundance, Berted. Travelers can only be resurrected in the Holy Neutral City Temple. If you want to change the resurrection location, you have to go to another holy neutral city and talk to the priest there."

There was no difference between what Jorba said and what was written on the paper. Jinsuk nodded as if he understood everything. Jorba returns the paper from Jinjin and grabs a feather pen from the ink beside him.

"Now, this is the name of the most important traveler. You can use your traveler's real name or create a unique name for the world. But you have to think carefully, it's the name you will use all the time in the world."

Jorba winks playfully at one eye. Jinseok thought about it for a long time and said one syllable.

"Jack. I'll take Jack."

"Jack. That's a pretty common name. Most travellers have pretty cool names, including castles. One of them used 14 words that fit into his name, like some royal family."

Can you memorize all that? It was a moment of silence for the player who had put all his effort into the nonsense.

"His name became Jack. Do you need a last name?"

"Well, I'll put it up for everyone else."

Jinseok called out the full name to the castle. Jorba leaves a feather pen and closes the lid on the ink, writing the new name of the stone unstoppable with a fluffy handwriting. After the ink dries well, Boon Jorba takes the paper and puts it in front of his eyes.

"It's the name of someone I admire."

"Oh, I see. Writing the name of a respected person is quite amusing."

Jorba glanced at the new name of the authentic he had written. It's unfortunate. If Jorba knew what he had accomplished, would he have said it? Jinsuk smiles deeply.

The signature on the bottom of the paper Jorba is holding. There was a nice handwriting with the following names on it:

Jack the Reaper.