MMORPG: Rise of the Peerless Pumpkinmancer

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Adventurer Dorian wasn't one to be slighted. Many feared the strong and the influential, but the truly fearsome were the desperate ones. He was incredibly desperate. 

His month's rent was late, utterly so. 

Perhaps taking a loan to buy the Infinite gaming capsule hadn't been the wisest choice he had ever made. Now he was risking getting evicted. 

It wasn't that he was foolish either. In theory, he had a solid plan to make money. He had even rushed through the Tutorial and arrived at Sprigfield.

Yes, he had simply been especially unlucky. 

When he had been hunting in the field, undead rats had come out of nowhere. In the forest, an invisible deer had rampaged, and in the Canyon he had been forced to join a war. 

At this point, he was already losing his mind. Every time he just minded his own business, everything would go to Hell! 

His in-game finances were fine, and he was even making a profit, but it was far from enough to pay for the cost of his loan! 

He wanted to cry, and yet even the tears did not come. 

He had attempted to fall back to fishing in despair, something he had learned from his dad a long time ago. Even if he hated it, he had learned nonetheless. 

Then that whole mess with the mermaid had happened! FFFF! 

It was already too late. Barred a miracle, his only path to survival was to change his means. In front of him was now wealth literally calling out to him. 

So many were lining up to hand over their coins to trees. Trident-Libur? What an obvious scam! 

Thus he had formulated a bold but incredibly innovative plan. In, grab the gold, out. This was the perfect plan! He'd deal with the Demon King's retribution later. 

He nonchalantly approached as if a customer, subtly gazing at the literal pot of gold. He waited patiently, waiting for no one to be looking and…dashed! 

10 meters 

5 meters 

1 meter 

Just when his fingers were about to touch the goal, his face suddenly twisted in despair. A few "smart" players lay under the gold, restrained by vines. 

It was over in an instant. He felt his body be entrapped by the vegetation, losing complete control and joining his unfortunate colleagues. 

"Pfft— I can't believe another tried! How dumb are they! It cracks me up every time." A man guffawed loudly. 

Every time? But there were only a few bodies here. Could it be that those ones were just the recent ones? What came next almost made him choke. 

"Place your bets now! How long till another foolish one becomes greedy? Place your bets now!" A D.L. member called out. 

"Buy a delicious snack now! Special recipe! Get a delicious sausage while you wait for your turn! Satisfaction guaranteed or money returned!!" Another called out. 

What kind of sick joke was this?! Many players happily joined in on the fun until a commotion happened. 

"W-wait! I know this smell. T-t-this is….human flesh!" His entire body was shaking. 

That's when many started vomiting, finally remembering the rumors they had heard. A few crazy players had been jailed for carving other players up…right next to the guards! 

Evil Practice Spotted —> Name Turning Red —> Jail Time —> Lesson Learned (officially) 

  "Pfft— As if! I can assure you, customer, that this is not human flesh!" The D.L. member retorted. 

"What is it then?!!" They called out. 

"A bunch of ones and zeros." Came the natural reply.

"I want a refund!!" Countless voices rose up, evident disgust on their faces. 

"Sure thing. Just hand over the sausage back in its complete form, and I will issue refunds accordingly." A warm voice replied. 

"…." 

"HOW DARE—" A man shouted angrily, only to be cut short. 

— Thud! — 

As Dorian heard the tied-up body landing next to him, he couldn't help but gulp. These guys were positively insane! So freaking insane! 

Still, all complaints ended as belligerent players finally remembered where they were… Trees, trees all around! 

"…." Many remained mum, looking at the Mythical weapon, others chuckling slightly. 

Time passed, more and more wannabe thieves getting caught. 

Party Size —> Raid Size

Soon it would be night. Queuing up in the wild was far from wise, and many couldn't help but grumble as they left, resolved to come back early. 

The miscreant left behind couldn't help but fear what would happen to them. Would they just be left here to rot? That's when he arrived. 

When they saw that dark pair of black eyes, they felt their hair rise. They could feel the Demon King grin at them. 

"Mmhmh," They tried to scream…. 

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Jack stood next to the lake, enjoying the wonderful breeze. It was so refreshing. This time he had come here for some fishing. 

"Mmhm" Incomprehensible mumbles came through the gags, the players all tied and lined up. 

They were just the right amount of noisy and squirmish, just as baits ought to be. Jack couldn't help but give them all a thumb up.

"Now, I'll give you all two choices." His calm voice terrified them even more­ as countless torture scenes flashed through their minds. 

"Choose between Freedom and Helping me with one thing and one thing only." He gently offered, removing the gags. 

They glanced at him as if a lunatic. What kind of choice was this?! They would obviously want Freedom! Then again, could it be so easy? No way! 

Their eyes were full of suspicion. 

"I really will let you go. Just say the word, and I'll let you all walk to Town without interfering. Oh, and neither will my faction." He reassured them. 

No one wanted to be the first to test his benevolence. They all looked at one another in confusion. 

"Not all at once, eh? Fine, in 3 seconds, I'm choosing your fate myself." 

"3.."

"2…"

"1…" 

"Zer-" 

"Freedom!" 

"Freedom!" 

"Help!" 

"Freedom!" 

All but one answered Freedom. 

"Oh?" Jack raised a brow, intrigued. 

"Sir, you said you'll allow us to go to Town, right? But you never said you won't take revenge." Dorian explained his choice. 

"?!?" Many gasped as they looked at the smiling devil near them. 

"I'd much rather prefer suffering now than fearing retribution all my life," Dorian added. His companions of misfortune turned livid. 

Jack observed their faces. It seemed they had all developed a conscience as they stared at him with a pitiful look, begging to help. 

"Now, who wants to work?" 

They all raised their hands so eagerly that it was almost touching. With this out of the way, they were ready to start fishing. 

Fishing for fish —> Worms as bait 

Fishing for monsters —> Squirming Braves 

Jack even went to the extent to dump monster bait all over their bodies. Still, he could have used his people instead, if that was all. 

No, he added a little extra. He splattered them with a mixture full of pheromones that he had gotten from the FF Faction. It was so potent, that even the NPCs didn't dare use it. 

He finally made them swallow temporary water breathing pills. This reassured them, for dying to a monster was preferable to drowning by far. They were ready. 

Jack gave them a quiet prayer as the Braves were lowered into the lake. 

"May the gods reward you for your sacrifice, and may you be able to sit once tomorrow comes..." 

"?!?" 

Perhaps they would come to regret their choice… 

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After the war, things had temporarily returned to normal in the lake.

It was but a question of time until mermaids learned of their brethren's murder, but for now, things were fine. 

- Jack's targets, the fishmen, were still sleeping and would wake up at night. 

- Most of the dangerous enemies' locations were easy to predict. 

- The remaining monsters were currently "biting" his trap. 

Many scouts from various species actually noticed the commotion, but they became utterly disgusted once they saw the horrors that were happening there. 

The aphrodisiac only targeted a few specific species, octopus included. 

Jack used the opportunity to sneak through the entire lake with his beloved orange (camouflaged) pumpkin submarine and Bubblegum. 

He made his way through the fishmen territory, bypassing the few watch-fishes, and finally reached his destination. It was a large and frankly shitty cave that smelled fishy. 

"You know what to do." He winked at the pink-haired assassin. 

He had complete confidence in her capabilities. An hour later, an incredible aura spread through the area. 

- Bubblegum: I died and dropped a bow, but your Elemental's awake now. 

- Jack'O: Great, you did well! ^_^ 

That was all they needed. He could hear the Elemental rampage in the distance. 

"Where the hell did you bring me?! Bunch of stupid fishes! How dare you use me as a humidifier?!! I'll…" 

He had been meditating and summoning rain non-stop. 

The fishes had captured him for the water mana he emitted and placed him in their lair as if a piece of furniture. 

He was NOT happy. 

— BAM! — 

A cave wall suddenly shattered, the Elemental appearing in all his magnificence.

"Sup!" Jack casually greeted. 

"It's you?!! Wait, don't tell me you're the one that sent that pink creature to stab me awake?!"

"Who cares about that. Don't you think it's time you stopped the rain now? The whole mortal world's about to get drowned." Jack reproached. 

That's when the Elemental froze. 

"T-that…" They indeed had an agreement. He had simply "overslept". 

Jack didn't bother arguing anymore. 

The two of them escaped the lake, even the crazy powerful creature shaking as he saw the fate of the human bait. 

"W-what are they doing with the—?!" 

"Shhh, don't look." 

This was one problem solved. Now, there still remained one…