Role-Playing in the Ultra-Ancient Era

In the eyes of adventurers, Painting Worlds fell into two broad categories.

One type simply threw people inside without saying anything, leaving them to explore on their own. If they found a way out, they could leave; if not, they obediently stayed inside, killing time as human batteries for Zane Dungeon.

The representative work of this type was Painting World: Anor Londo.

The other type granted adventurers an identity related to that Painting World after they entered, allowing them to experience the painting's contents as a certain person within that tiny world.

The representative works of this type were Painting World: Wolf Knight and Painting World: Waste Stone. Both had once become massively popular Painting Worlds that had broken out of their niche.

Overall, the second type was more common. To a certain extent, Painting Worlds seemed to serve Zane Dungeon's storytelling more than anything else, created so adventurers could learn about the legendary stories that had occurred in the land where they lived.

If someone asked Hervey which type of Painting World he preferred, he would definitely answer the second without hesitation.

After all, how could exploring on your own be more fun than role-playing?

"The last time I entered this kind of Painting World, I played the Elden Lord."

He was referring to the storyline where he played a Tarnished in Painting World: Waste Stone. That segment had indeed left a deep impression on him.

The Mimic Tear recently discovered in the Eternal City had made the topic of Tarnished popular again, and the fame of Painting World: Waste Stone had risen along with it. It had already been popular before, and now it was even more popular.

However, news took time to spread. It was not until church reinforcements from Arnor Kingdom arrived that Hervey learned about