A Regressed Villain: Heroines, Villainesses and Me? - Chapter 38 - 36 - - Introduction of Characters in the Free Cities

William was once a gamer ranked in top 20 worldwide. After his death, he found himself in the body of an insignificant NPC in the game “God's Apocalypse.” This NPC was doomed to die early in the game, filling William with dread because he knew he had only three months to live.The game world of “God's Apocalypse” was rich with many different fantasy races, from elves to dwarves, each offering unique opportunities for him to make use of, as well as challenges to home oneself.William was terrified because he had the knowledge of the game's future but lacked the power to change his fate.However, he was not without options. He retained his game panel and the unique talent “[Jack of All Trades],” which allowed him to learn skills from various professions.William realized that when the game's beta opened, players would arrive. As an NPC, he could assign quests to them and use his knowledge of the game's future to manipulate them to do his bidding.He began to leverage the abilities of the players to alter his fate and grow stronger.William made alliances with various races, gaining their trust and learning their secrets. This enabled him to transcend the boundaries of his initial condition and steadily increase his power.As William's power grew, players in the game started to complain: “This boss is impossibly strong and keeps getting stronger, we demand a nerf!” They were frustrated by his rapid progression and the unique challenges he posed.In contrast, the elves venerated him: “Lord William is the ultimate chosen one, bringing an unparalleled peace to our realm.” They saw him as a savior who brought stability and hope.The mages revered him as well: “He is the trailblazer of magic, our protector. His name, William Cain, is synonymous with the god of the arcane.” They admired his innovative approach to magic and his role in advancing their knowledge.When asked how he managed to achieve such feats, William simply responded, “Knowledge is power, and it's the one thing I don't lack.”

“You're worth a single arrow.”The first immersive virtual MMORPG, The Legend Enigma Online, has conquered the game market! There's not even one person who hasn't heard or seen this game's beautiful and vast magical world overflowing with monsters.Everyone wanted to play this game and be a part of history!Conjuring magic, wielding enormous swords, and even flying across the skies are possible in this game! Guns, arrows? Those are boring compared to this!Jake, however, was compelled to think differently.When the archery became abandoned and forgotten, he took this class and swore to prove others wrong, all because he likes to go against the mainstream!With the bow in his hand, Jake finds passion, talent, and excitement in archery, but will that be enough against the challenges the world keeps for him?It's not only the players that find archery weaker than magic. After the dawn of mana, which happened over two hundred years ago, even NPCs prefer magic over bows.While the other classes have been developed so much by NPCs that players have many luxuries to pick from, the archery is now a mere shadow of its past.That's only the tip of the iceberg of the future Supreme Archer's difficulties!“No matter whatever it is and how long it takes, I'll take everything on and get my archery to the top! The archery where I'm the master and artisan of my bows and arrows, the tailor of my equipment, and pioneer of my own skills!”Hard work, talent, bitter defeats, and uproarious victories–none of it is foreign to Jake!

Mana finally arrived in our world after being delayed for unknown reasons, causing the evolution of everything that had life.

Humans, plants, and monsters all evolved, ushering the planet into a new era in which old laws no longer applied and the only law in the world was the rule of the jungle, where the strong preyed on the weak.

It was a question of whether we, the 'rulers' of the land, would be able to maintain our position and adapt to whatever came after our planet's awakening, and if we did, was that the end?