Hello, this is Nexon Picker Yonghyuksoon.

Today, I wanted to go over some of the most memorable stories and world settings in MapleStory.

Out of all of them, I picked two. One is a tragic love story, and the other is a piece of worldbuilding that really stood out to me.

The Story of Von Leon and Ifia

Von Leon is a name most of us know well as one of the Black Mage’s commanders.

In the Summer 2024 Milestone patch, we finally got a detailed look at Von Leon’s past.

As a young man, Von Leon inherited the throne from his father, who cared deeply for the people, but he still felt he was not fit to be king. From time to time he worked as a mercenary, and after defeating the Lycanthropes, the monsters feared by the villagers, he met Ifia at a festival the townspeople held to celebrate that victory.

Behind the story of how he became one of the Black Mage’s commanders is the fact that Von Leon’s kingdom had once been poor and weak, and the Black Mage’s appearance changed the kingdom’s situation entirely.

The rebels who rose up to eliminate the Black Mage would not accept the kingdom’s refusal to join them, even though it had continued living its own life regardless of the Black Mage’s appearance, and they attacked. After losing even Ifia, who had meant everything to him along with his kingdom, Von Leon truly became a servant of the Black Mage, and as the first commander in the story, he remains to this day.

Currently, while progressing through the story, there is also an easter egg where, if you equip Noble Ifia’s Ring and talk to the past version of Von Leon, he recognizes Noble Ifia’s Ring.

The Setting of Ludibrium

If you think back to old MapleStory, Ludibrium’s setting is another one you really cannot leave out. Time in Ludibrium is always stopped. The king of Ludibrium personally asked Rhinne, the goddess of time, to stop time there for the happiness of the people, so they could preserve their childlike innocence forever.

Because of that, there are still some interesting details left behind when you look around Ludibrium. As a result of time being stopped, time flows differently in Eos Tower and Helios Tower.

Eos Tower had its time stopped from the future, which is why Omega Sector is there, complete with alien invasions, while Helios Tower had its time stopped from the past, which is why Korean Folk Town exists below. Since time was forcibly stopped, strange and grotesque monsters also gather on the lowest floor of the Clocktower.

Alishar, who is well known as the final boss of the Ludibrium Party Quest, is also said to be a pitiful being that was caught in a gap in time, failed to return home, and was thrown into another dimension to wander aimlessly. So when I played LudipQ again in Mapleland for the first time in a long while, it felt great to see Alishar again, but after hearing that story, I also started to see it as a slightly tragic existence.

From past to present, MapleStory really seems to do a good job of creating memorable settings, monsters, and relationships with NPCs.

The old Ludibrium story is part of MapleStory’s earlier setting, but I still found it especially interesting, and in Von Leon’s case, I heard it was added more recently while the Black Mage storyline was being reorganized, and it really does feel like a very well-made story.