MMORPG : Ancient WORLD

'I don't know why Zero would do this, but this is just awesome.' Alex thought with a bright smile as he read the system notifications he had received thirty hours ago.

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[System Notification Log]:

...

[World Announcements on Hold] x2

[Do You want to Announce the Achievement of Acquiring a [SSS] Rank Legacy [Darkness Ruler] to the World]

[Yes / No]

[Do You want to Announce the Achievement of Becoming The Ruler of the Special Continent Malefis Domain to the World]

[Yes / No]

"Important Note: The player is given a choice to decide if he wants to announce his achievements to the world because If they are announced to the world, his "Game" life could be in danger.

...

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'This must be the reason why there was no World Announcement related to Malefis Domain in my previous life.' Alex thought, looking at the choice given to him by the system.

It was common knowledge that players had no choice in the case of world announcements, as after someone achieved anything that met the criteria, a world announcement would happen, and Alex also believed in this information.

'The message says if the world knows about my achievement, my game life will be in danger which is correct as every strong NPC organization will hunt for me to control the Malefis Domain.' Alex thought, knowing the problems he would face on any of the continents.

'I don't know if the world announcement regarding my legacy could also bring me danger, but it is possible, as the legacy belongs to Erebus, and he is the First Ruler of the Malefis Domain.' Alex thought.

Alex thought of announcing his name to the world, but after thinking about it for a moment, he quickly dropped it because it would only bring him unwanted trouble.

'If there was no World announcement of my achievements, why are the people from the Human Empire looking for me? More importantly, how did they find out I am connected to Vlad, Badger, and Hecate, and why those three specifically and not anyone else?' Alex thought again about the Badger message.

Alex was thinking so deeply about it because he understood that this could be related to something big, but no matter how much he tried, he couldn't come up with a satisfactory conclusion.

'There is no point in losing brain cells over this when I can just meet them and ask what they want from me.' Alex thought, focusing back on the floating system window.

Alex never connected the incident to his Beastmen friends because that information came from Zero, whom he trusted very little after his time travel.

After deciding not to announce his name to the world, Alex declined both world announcements, and then he started reading all the other system notifications not to miss anything.

'I wonder what will be the best use for the wish I gained from Zero.' Alex thought, and while he was trying to think of something good that fit the criteria of his wish, Varon appeared by his side like a ghost.

The wish given by zero had minimal restrictions, but those restrictions were still enough to stop Alex from asking anything absurd or game-breaking.

'I can't think of anything that I can't acquire with my own effort, but I believe a good opportunity to make use of my wish should present itself in the near future.' Alex thought as he closed the system window.

'I wonder when he returned.' Alex thought as he looked toward Varon, who was standing silently like a statue.

"Domain Ruler, I hope I didn't keep you waiting for too long," Varon said calmly.

"Domain Ruler, Do you want me to explain the current situation of the Malefis Domain, or do you want to learn about anything else first?" Varon asked.

"I want to know the current issues of the Malefis Domain and also what I need to do to fix them," Alex said.

Alex knew that only the Ruler could solve the problems of the Malefis Domain because if it was anything that could be solved with effort, then monsters like the clan leaders who were at this world's apex wouldn't ask a weak kid like Alex for help.

"I will explain the situation of the Malefis Domain Inhabitants briefly, and then I will explain it in detail with examples to make it easier for you to understand the overall situation," Varon said in his friendly tone.

"All the inhabitants of the Malefis Domain are in a state of dying because of a disease named [Devourer Curse]," Varon said calmly.

After hearing the name of the disease, Alex's head immediately went blank as images of the Elf and Dragon continent disaster came to his mind.

'I don't like where this is leading to.' Alex thought, trying his best to hide his shocked expression, but it was impossible to hide anything from someone at Varon's level of strength.

"Domain Ruler, It looks like you already have some knowledge of Devourer Curse," Varon asked with a curious look.

"In one of the adventurers, I discovered some information about the history of a Monarch who was infected with a disease that eats at the person's sanity, slowly turning him into a mindless monster hungry for destruction,"

"The Monarch also named the disease as [Devourer Curse]," Alex answered in a serious tone, knowing that the problem with Malefis Domain Inhabitants was much worse than he previously thought.

"You must be talking about Oberon [Monarch Of The Night Sky]," Varon said like it was obvious who Alex was referring to.

"The Malefis Domain is a unique continent that provides many benefits, and an environment that could help someone comprehend the mysteries of their elemental laws much faster than normal is one of the benefits."

"The benefits were the reason why strong warriors came to Malefis Domain, and Oberon was one of them," Varon said, seeing Alex curiously looking at him.

Alex was not surprised that strong warriors came to Malefis Domain, as he expected it to happen because even though entry into the continent was hard but it was possible if someone was at any stage of the Elemental Ruler Ranks.

It was impossible for anyone weaker than an Elemental Ruler to enter the Malefis Domain because the entire continent was completely protected from every direction by devastating mana storms, so if someone weaker tried to cross those mana storms, his body would be ripped to shreds in short few seconds.

"You already know what the [Devourer Curse] is in its existence and what kind of effect it could have on a living being of any strength, so that is why I will skip the basics and tell you about it in detail, and for that, we need to go to the palace dungeon," Varon said and immediately a space portal manifested in front of Alex.

Alex was not too surprised that Varon could casually create a space portal because he knew that all Elemental Rulers understood the mysteries of worldly laws, so connecting two points of space and forcefully opening a portal was easy for them.

Alex silently walked into the portal, still shaken by the news that all the inhabitants of the Malefis Domain were infected with the Devourer Curse.

Alex had many questions, like how the people were still alive after being affected by the same disease that consumed the sanity of a fully-fledged Monarch, but he was sensible enough to wait to gain his answers as Varon was not done with his explanation.

'Owaaaaaaa' Alex's reaction after exiting the portal.

'The smell in this place at least ten times is worse than golden frog habitat.' Alex thought as he stopped breathing to save himself from feeling the unbearable smell.

"I forgot to warn you about the smell," Varon said as he exited the portal.

"Domain Ruler, You can breathe normally now," Varon said as he created a thin mana protection around Alex.

Alex stood at the start of a long, dimly lit corridor with large black metal doors on both sides.

'A palace dungeon is supposed to hold prisoners, not thousand of rotting corpses,' Alex thought, taking a few deep breaths.

"This dungeon has no rotting corpses or prisoner who committed crimes but just a few unfortunate mindless beasts infected with Devourer Curse," Varon said like he knew what Alex was thinking.

"Please follow me," Varon said as he walked toward the cell to the right side, and before he even reached the giant door, it opened automatically.

Varon casually entered the cell, and Alex swiftly followed behind him, and after reaching the cell entrance, he saw a giant wolf chained in the center.

GGGRROOWLLLLL

'There should be silence magic circles in this cell to keep the voice from escaping.' Alex thought as he entered the cell and heard the loud growling of the wolf.

The wolf was chained so tightly that he couldn't even move an inch from his place, and his body was covered in hardened blood, and the chains that kept him in place were digging deeply into his flesh, but the wolf looked like he was in no pain.