Hello.

Lately, “romance” has increasingly come to mean something like the opposite of efficiency. The keyword for this post, “Going Out of Your Way Day,” seems to be used in that same sense. MapleStory uses it in a similar way as well, and that is not really something you can sort neatly into good or bad; especially in games, it is better understood as a difference in playstyle.

If I had to point to a recent MapleStory example, the new story content <World Archive> would be an easy one. When it comes to story content, there are far more players who either are not interested at all or only look up the specific parts that catch their eye than players who fully immerse themselves in it, and I fall into that second group too.

That said, this newly updated <World Archive> felt worth trying from the test server onward because it deals with the very familiar Victoria Island, the collection method is not difficult, the rewards are fairly solid, and it even covers the stories of supporting characters and people who would normally be treated as little more than extras.

Since all of the rewards are cosmetic items, it can easily look like an inefficient use of time, but I still think it has enough charm and enough quality to be worth trying at least once just for the fun of it.

Of course, a full collection is really for players with a truly lethal amount of romance in them, so that was beyond me. I set my goal at 1250 entries instead, since that is the final reward threshold most people will probably care about. I have also included a few things that are worth checking before you start registering entries.

The Romantic Appeal of <World Archive>

<World Archive> is story content presented in encyclopedia form, completely unrelated to character progression. It is similar to the old Monster Book, but in a much more developed form. There are 1,399 entries in total covering both NPCs and monsters, all written as though investigators traveled across the world to interview and document them firsthand.

Even NPCs with no direct role in the story, like potion merchants, are all given entries, and it is impressive how the records make use of speech-bubble lines, existing lore, and even old memes. The presence shown above, for example, reflects the setting from Mushroom Castle, a theme dungeon from quite a while back.

Arcane River and Grandis are planned for release later as well, but Maple World has simply built up so much over such a long period that it naturally feels like the part players connect with most directly.

Collection Rewards

The <World Archive> collection rewards are as follows. You can claim rewards every 250 entries, up to 1,250 collected entries, and since all of them are cosmetic, anyone looking for stat-related rewards can safely skip the content altogether.

• [250 Entries] Knowledge Appraiser Chair

• [500 Entries] Maple World Map - Maple Home Furniture

• [750 Entries] Knowledge Pioneer Chair

• [1000 Entries] Maple World Map Custom Background

• [1250 Entries] Character Selection Screen Theme

In practice, this usually comes down to the character selection screen theme. If that is what you want, then yes, you will need to go all the way to 1,250.

Finding Romance Efficiently: Good Things to Know When Registering Up to 1250

• After unlocking the content by accepting the quest at level 100, monsters can be collected by defeating them once, and NPCs by speaking to them once

• 1399 (maximum collectible entries) - 1250 (required entries for the final reward) - 67 (maximum entries from The Seed) = 82 (buffer entries)

The reassuring part is that both the collection method and the reward threshold are set quite generously. If you subtract the 1,250 entries needed for the final reward from the maximum 1,399, you are left with 147, and even if you completely remove the 67 entries from The Seed—which for some people is exhausting just to think about—you still have 82 left. In other words, you can skip 82 entries and still get the final reward.

• Whether it is hard to register or easy to register, it still only counts as 1

Some NPCs and monsters can only be registered after you complete part or all of a region’s questline, but spending extra time on those does not earn you anything more. Since each one still only counts as a single entry, you can comfortably skip the ones that take disproportionately long.

• Premium Teleport World Map is essential

If you have it, the whole process takes around 4 to 5 hours. Without it, it will take far longer. There are several ways to get one, so it is worth securing it before you start.

• It helps if you remember which characters have already finished route unlocks/theme dungeons/area quests

Lion King's Castle / Stone Colossus / Riena Strait / Ellinel / Fantasy Theme Park / Elin Forest / Omega Sector / Colossus / Golden Temple / Ariant / Future Door all fall into that category.

Now then, let us go through things region by region. It will probably be most convenient if you follow the encyclopedia order. Areas not mentioned separately here are simply places where everything can be registered without any special conditions

• Maple Island: accessible using an Explorer character’s beginner skill

• Kerning Tower: takes about 10 minutes and offers a lot of entries, so it is well worth doing

• Ellinia: Forest of Patience can be entered by taking the quest from Hersha and going in through Shane / Louis is inside

• Ellinel: takes about 10 minutes and offers a lot of entries, so it is well worth doing - go right for the 2nd-floor dormitory and left for the 3rd-floor dormitory / in Ellinia, speak in the order Arwen - Rowen - Betty

• Gold Beach: up to 15 entries can be registered if you have not done the quest

• Ramu Ramu: since you have probably already done the Gloom route unlock, there are effectively no conditions

• Mushroom Castle: there are a lot of cutscenes, so it takes about 20 minutes; leave it lower in priority for now and only consider it if you come up short

• Root Abyss: you can register Imps by entering the Abandoned Garden

• Cursed Temple: Balrog can only be attacked 3 minutes after entering / food cart location

• Riena Strait: up to 5 entries can be registered if you have not done the quest

• Lion King's Castle: up to 8 entries can be registered if you have not done the quest

• Abandoned Mine: Fire Bomber can be defeated by moving into the lava at the far left of Cave of Trial 2 / click Adobis to enter the Abandoned Mine Cave Investigation map for Aura, then leave the party and register Ali on the exit map / Lira is at the end of the Zakum Dungeon Expedition obstacle map, but since it is not exactly easy, just skip her for now

• Aquarium: Carta location

• Fantasy Theme Park: up to 13 entries can be registered if you have not done the quest

• Korean Folk Town: up to 26 entries can be registered if you have not done the quest

• Elin Forest: up to 16 entries can be registered if you have not done the quest

• Omega Sector: up to 15 entries can be registered if you have not done the quest

• Leafre: Leviathan can be defeated by entering the bush in Wyvern Canyon

• Colossus: up to 8 entries can be registered if you have not done the quest

• Kritias: even without doing the quest, you can enter the town through the Teleport World Map and register everything

• Mu Lung: Mu Gong can be registered during Ren 4th job or the Aran story quest, but if that sounds too annoying, just skip it for now

• Herb Town: Giant Bellflower Root / Centipede / Bamboo Warrior are each on different maps, so make sure not to miss them

• Golden Temple: up to 11 entries can be registered if you have not done the quest

• Ariant: you can enter right away after completing about two of Byron’s quests inside the palace / the Sand Bandits boss only appears after finishing the questline, so skip it for now

• Temple of Time: if you have not done the quest, use the Teleport World Map to move to the end of Road of Oblivion and work backward so you do not get kicked back to the lobby / Forgotten Keeper is on a map you can only reach after completing the quest, so skip it for now

• Future Door: up to 59 entries can be registered if you have not done the quest / Neinheart, The One Who Remembers, and Lightning require quest progression, so skip them for now

• Edelstein: Ryan Head location - you can teleport there as well

• Abandoned Excavation Site: Emergency Guard Robot L can be defeated on the map reached by attacking the security device with a normal attack from the map below

• Scrapyard: the flying monsters are said to appear in color order. Catch the first one, then skip the rest for now / also make sure to register all the robots in town whose names do not appear

• Tower of the Ocean Depths: if you are still comfortable with The Seed, this is recommended, because even excluding floors 49 and 50 it still accounts for as many as 65 entries. Entries can also be registered on maps entered with a practice ticket

In my case, I could not clear floor 48, so Tower of the Ocean Depths remains at 65 filled entries. Even excluding that, I currently have 1,254 entries collected (1319-65), and the unfinished regions look like this

For theme dungeons and route-unlock regions, you need to do them on a character that has completed that region’s quests. Since I found it nearly impossible to remember which characters those were, I tried to handle as much as possible on brand-new characters that had not progressed any quests at all. If you do remember, then places like Omega Sector / Colossus / Golden Temple / Ariant and so on can simply be done wherever possible, so it should be easier for you than it was for me.

If things still do not register even on a character that has already cleared the content, then those are the cases that only register if you do them from the very beginning while progressing the questline. In that case, naturally, they should move further down your priority list.

In my case, I had no choice but to clear a few theme dungeons. As mentioned earlier, Ellinel and Kerning Tower are nice because they finish quickly while giving a lot of entries, and I also cleared Mushroom Castle on top of that. But honestly, even theme dungeons and route unlocks usually only take around 15 to 20 minutes at most, so you can simply do whichever ones you feel like.

A Quick Review of the Key Points for a 1250 Goal

• Premium Teleport World Map is essential

• Some places that normally open only after quest completion, such as Future Door (Cygnus Knights area) / Temple of Time / downtown Kritias, can also be reached by teleport without finishing the quest

• As you go through the regions in encyclopedia order (though it does not really matter if you do not), first clear out all the places where everything can be registered without any special conditions

• If something is missing and you cannot find where it is, use the World Map search function, and if it requires entering a specific hidden map, please refer to the notes above

• For regions with quest prerequisites, if you remember which character completed them, do it on that character

• If you make a pass on a character who has already completed the quest and it still does not register, then that entry only registers if you do it from the very beginning, so skip it for now

• Kerning Tower / Ellinel are quick and give a lot of entries, so they are great to knock out early

• World Archive can also be assigned to a hotkey or the quick menu, so it is worth setting that up if you plan to sit down and work through it properly

• If you can manage The Seed, it does make things easier because it has a lot of possible entries. Still, doing it for this alone is naturally not recommended

• The registration method itself is convenient, but because the total number is so high, it is easiest to think of the whole thing as taking around 4 to 5 hours

I hope the parts you need here help things go a little more smoothly. Thank you for reading.