Mental power consumption: 200>“This is…..”
Ark sighed as he walked out. He had selected the Survivor coating after much deliberation.
Gaining 1 million experience or 1 million special skills meant nothing if he couldn’t register with the Fairy before dying. So the most important thing in Galaxian was living. Thus he chose the Survivor coating.
“The bonus stats aren’t bad.”
Ark muttered as he looked at the character information window. When he browsed the internet, he found that the bonus stats normally given was between 65~75. However, Ark had received a total of 85 bonus stats. Marquis Martin gave him a 3rd generation IC card that gave 10~20 extra stats…..
“Of all things, why did my luck stat increase by 20?”
Of course, luck wasn’t a useless stat. No, it was a terrifying one.
-Luck: Luck can influence the behaviour of the character.Luck has an influence on critical hit probability, evasion probability and increases the chance of receiving better rewards from NPCs as quest compensation. In addition, the probability of getting good loot also increases.
This was the role of luck in online gaming. At first glance it was a good stat. However, luck was all related to probability. In other words, it didn’t always turn out well. And even if something worked, there was no way to connect it to his luck value. Yet his luck stat had increased by 20. It was like those points had been thrown away. However, Ark’s uncomfortable expression wasn’t due to his stats.
“What the h.e.l.l? These skills?”
He had learnt 3 skills along with the Survivor coating. Binding Sword, Mind Shield, Stealth……the effects seemed quite useful. The enemy being bound for 2~3 seconds meant he could escape, the shield could stop several attacks and the stealth technology meant he could hide while moving.
They were all techniques that could be used to escape from a crisis. The problem was that the effect wasn’t fixed. The effect changed depending on the users’ concentration. If he couldn’t concentrate properly then the attack damage of Binding Sword would decrease without any other effect while the durability of the shield would also decrease. And if he lost concentration in a hostile area then he would be in danger.
“Can these techniques be used safely? d.a.m.n, how can I be a.s.sured using these skills in a crisis? Is it luck of the draw?”
He thought it was appalling when he first saw the skill information window. Therefore he had angrily thought about cancelling the body coating. Even if the user was level 100, it was possible to cancel the body coating and receive another one. But cancelling the body coating cost a lot of money. And they also needed to buy an IC card to receive the body coating again. However, that wasn’t the penalty that weighed on his mind. Separating the DNA of an alien species and adding new one placed considerable burden on the body and decreased the stats. It wasn’t possible even if he had enough money. So Ark reconsidered.
“Yes, the skill description is uncomfortable but I won’t know until I try it out. There are many variables but the effect isn’t bad if used properly. No, like its name it is a skill to escape from suitable situations. It was too early to discard it. He had to try it out. The effect wouldn’t truly be known until he learnt it with his own body. Yes, I’ll try it once. There is no meaning in complaining now.”
He thought about trying it out. He wanted to leave the city right now to fight. But Ark wasn’t in a situation to do such things right now. At least in the future……
Ttak!
Ark was walking down a hallway while thinking. He felt a sudden pain and stars spread in front of him. He stepped back holding his forehead and saw someone else doing the same thing. He was too busy meddling with the skill information window that he b.u.mped into someone after turning the corner.
“Wah! I’m sorry. I wasn’t looking…..eh?”
Ark lowered his head after grasping the situation when he suddenly flinched. Surprisingly Ark knew the person. It was Irina. Ark stared at Irina blankly because he never imagined b.u.mping into her. He noticed Irina frowning and laughed awkwardly.
“I mean…..this is a shocking reunion. I’m seeing stars.”
“Are you joking? Or do you want me to be angry?”
“No, that…..”
“It’s okay.”
Irina spoke coldly with a deadpan voice. Ark hesitated after seeing her att.i.tude and scratched his head. Irina was about to turn around when Ark suddenly remembered and quickly started talking.
“W-wait a minute. I wanted to see you once. So I can say thank you.”
“Thank you, why are you thanking me?”
“I heard about it from Leader Clem. Irina ran around trying to help me when I was imprisoned on Beltana. There was no time after I was released so I couldn’t greet you directly. Thank you for you regard.”
Irina was startled by Ark’s words. She thought for a while before shaking her head and saying.
“I didn’t do it for your sake.”
‘Heh, she must be shy……’
Ark inwardly thought after hearing Irina’s reply. A young woman wouldn’t run back and forth helping a man she had no relation with. Then it was clear. When he heard Clem’s words, Ark was 100% sure that Irina had a crush on him. When he thought about it, there was no other option. Ark had saved Irina from humiliation at the charity party. He was also dressed up in nice clothes so he was looking handsomer than usual.
‘I barely spoke with Irina on Beltana. If Irina tried to help me so much then the answer is obvious. Although she pretended not to know, it is clear that she remembers the incident.
‘Huhuhu, this is slightly okay. But why is she acting cold? Ah, is that possible? Isn’t the cold character the trend these days? Hmm, this is also surprisingly charming?’
Ark arrogantly misunderstood. He mistook Irina’s cold att.i.tude as a strange charm.
“Anyway, it is a fact that I received your help. I am thankful.”
“Then I guess I have to say thanks to you as well.”
“Huh?”
“I was actually on Beltana because of Valencia. I was dispatched to Beltana to investigate rumours that someone was taking bribes from the prisoners. It was hard to gather evidence at first but it became easy after you provoked Valencia and I could file a complaint.”
It was the first time he heard this. Ark became embarra.s.sed by the unexpected words.
“But you should be careful. Valencia lost his achievements, was released from his position and reprimanded. It is a weak punishment compared to his violations. But Valencia might still be harbouring a grudge.”
“I already know that but…..”
Ark laughed and shrugged. Ark had noisily returned to Istana as a war hero with a lot of enemies. What did one more person matter? The more important thing was that Ark thought she had a crush on him. He couldn’t show his weak side! Ark deliberately put on an easy going expression and said.
“I’ve believed that justice would win since I was young.”
“And does it?”
“Sometimes. Especially when money……”
Ark made a circle with his finger and showed it to her. Irina stared at it blankly before laughing. Ark was caught off guard by Irina’s reaction to his joke. Ark had seen her many times on Beltana. She was in charge of the prisoners’ supplies so he couldn’t help seeing her. But this was the first time he saw Irina smiling. That wasn’t the only reason why Ark was caught off guard.
‘What? This woman…..is pretty.’
He had thought she was quite good earlier. However, he has always seen her with an expressionless face. But after seeing her laugh, she was an unexpectedly pretty girl?
And it wasn’t just a pretty looking woman. Ark misunderstood that a pretty woman was interested in him! His chest felt strange after being conscious of it.
‘Just once……’
Ark hesitated as he looked at Irina before opening his mouth.
“Hyung-nim!”
A bunch of guys flocked from behind him. They were the Silver Hand and Royal Guards. In fact, the Royal Guards were from different areas of Istana before being sent to Istana. When the war ended, they asked Marquis Martin to be allowed to return to Nephalim. There was a reason he brought them together.
‘But I wanted to talk to Irina…..’
Ark turned back around.
“Eh?”
She wasn’t there anymore. She had disappeared just like at the charity party.
“W-was she embarra.s.sed? Yes, that must be it. She must be embarra.s.sed.”
Ark thought like that.
“Hey, are you okay? Why are you muttering to yourself in a place like this?”
Mellin approached and asked with strange eyes. Ark blushed as he scratched his head and turned.
“It’s not a big deal. Did things turn out well?”
“Of course. Even if we’re not heroes, we also took part in the victory. Look at this. Isn’t it good? The other members and I received interesting weapons.”
Mellin tapped the machine gun on his shoulder and laughed. It wasn’t just Mellin. While the Royal Guards didn’t receive the Hero t.i.tle, they received rewards according to their achievements. Of course, they were prisoners so they wouldn’t receive rewards for the achievements left over after they were pardoned. However, Ark made a deal with Marquis Martin for the detachment to be treated like regular troops. Therefore the Royal Guards and Silver Hand were able to receive awards corresponding with their achievements. Now the Royal Guards were carrying new equipment. The equipment were all visibly magic items!
“This is all thanks to you.”
“Yes, we were pardoned and even received new equipment thanks to you!”
The crew burst out around him. If this was the usual Ark…..
“Is that right? It is thanks to me? I’m thankful for those words……”
He would try to get something for it. But now wasn’t the time. Ark had grander goals than some petty cash.
“The items? Is it all under control?”
“Well, Leader Clem knew the owner of the store so we got a decent price for it. It added up to 17,400 gold once everything was sold. I’ve never seen or touched so much gold before. My hands trembled while holding it. It isn’t good for my heart so you should receive it quickly.”
Mellin pa.s.sed him a heavy purse. This was the money from disposing of all the items they picked up from the pyramid and the Rama base. The total was 17,400 gold! Of course, that money didn’t belong to Ark alone. The proceeds were evenly split up among the 30 members of the Royal Guards and Silver Hand. Of course, Ark had already filled up his bag before the detachment joined him. This was Ark’s personal income. After calculating his personal income, Ark ended up receiving 1,160 gold. 16,800 gold remaining after subtracting Ark’s personal income. This was then split among Ark, the Silver Hand and the Royal Guards. 16,800 ÷ 30 = 560! That was 560 gold per person.
‘17,400 gold seemed like a huge amount but now it is split between 30 people.’
But they also received compensation from the federation and new weapons so it was a type of bonus. Each member received a bonus of 560 gold. Ark also took 1,160 gold so he couldn’t complain.
‘The combined amount is still insufficient!’
17,400 gold was insufficient if Ark wanted his plan to proceed. This was the reason the members hadn’t divided the proceeds and handed it all to Ark. He would now explain his plan……
In fact, Ark had half forgotten about Lucifer while on Beltana. He had to stop it of course but there were other users taking part in the government’s ‘Lucifer obstruction plan.’ But he had changed his mind while wandering around Beltana. The real estate slump in the Taek Mountain area! Ark thought it was highly likely that Lucifer was behind it. Ark was still a common person despite being a legendary gamer. He hadn’t really felt anything about the country’s crisis but now he was impatient.
Ark had realized what an important issue it was.
‘But how can I stop Lucifer?’
Ark hadn’t thought about it deeply until then. Of course, there was the condition that Lucifer proposed.
–The first person to achieve the ultimate goal in Galaxian will win.
……He didn’t know what that meant. Galaxian was an online game. Each game had different endings. So there was no way to know what the ultimate goal was. The game publisher of Galaxian, Successful Future hadn’t released the ultimate goal to the public.
‘The ultimate goal in Galaxian…..is it to become the strongest warrior? Or to reach the highest position in the galaxy? Perhaps pioneering the most planets? Or maybe finding an amazing item?’
He thought of various things but the answer wasn’t clear. But there was one obvious thing.
‘I don’t know what Lucifer considers the ultimate goal but there is one way to reach the target first. I have to become stronger than Lucifer!’
However, Galaxian was an online game. Numerous users were competing to reach the goal. In such a game, a user couldn’t just rely on individual strength. The ability of an organization was inevitably required. He needed an organization filled with users and NPCs to help him. That was the conclusion Ark reached. But Ark decided to narrow it down to two goals. The first thing was the growth and support of his organization.
‘And the starting point of my organization……’
Needless to say, it was the Royal Guards. The idea of his organization was based on the Royal Guards. It was thanks to this idea that Ark gathered the Royal Guards together. An opportunity to meet NPCs in the game that would sacrifice their lives for him was uncommon. And unlike other online games, some NPCs in Galaxian could resurrect. The Royal Guards were those NPCs. He could treat his subordinates like users. In fact, Ark had planned to execute it in the far future when he first thought about it. However, now he was the hero of Beltana.
+ Your status rise gives you the right to manage private businesses.
A 1st cla.s.s citizen had the right to operate a business!
‘A private business! In other words, I can own my own business like Tori. If I have a registered business then I can be a sponsor!’
This was why Ark snubbed the scouting offers of the 4 large businesses. If he created a business then his organization would have a direct goal. However, this plan had a crucial issue.
“Money! Money! Gold!”
This was part of setting up any business. It required a colossal amount of funds. However, most of the money Ark earned in reality was tied up in real estate. He couldn’t invest in a business in the game. So Ark lowered his goal for a little bit.
‘Yes, I shouldn’t become too greedy. Even if my funds aren’t tied up in real estate, it is too risky to build a company. I’ll start with becoming a mercenary organization like the Silver Hand for the moment. If I purchase the agent rights from the government then I don’t need to buy a building.’
But the price of an agent registration certificate wasn’t cheap. It was tens of thousands of gold! Ark only received 1,160 gold after the payout. This was why most users never thought of creating an establishment and looked for a sponsor. The agent right was necessary to establish an organization and most users couldn’t afford that amount. However, an organization was essential to Ark so he had no choice. So he devised one method.
“You are now free. But I still want to be with you guys forever.”
“Of course! We will follow Hyung-nim until we die!”
“Thank you. But our current situation is limited. We’ve truly become colleagues who faced death together so I want to make it official. After much deliberation, I decided to make our own organization. Of course, building a decent business right now is realistically impossible. But it is different if we become a mercenary company like the Silver Hand. The money needed to buy an agent registration certificate is large but if we join forces then I think it is possible. Then you will become a founding member with a stake in the organization.”
This was the method that Ark thought of. It was collecting member from the Royal Guards under the pretext of ‘establishment funds.’
’10 NPCs together should make a fast profit.’
There was no opposition. Ark’s agenda unanimously pa.s.sed. The income they earned from Beltana was added to the ‘establishment funds.’ There was one question. The spoils from Beltana were shared between the members of the detachment. Based on the number of people, the Silver Hand had received approximately 60% of the total income. However, just then Mellin had handed all the money to him. The reason why……
“Leader Clem-nim, please take care of my younger brothers.”
“Understood. We will make them work to make up the amount of shares originally belonging to us that we gave to you.”
Clem laughed and looked at the members of the Royal Guards. This was why the income from Beltana entered Ark’s pocket. In the past Ark got a job with the Silver Hand because of Tori and he got the Royal Guards the same job. However, this wasn’t just to finance the business.
‘The Silver Hand has more experience and better skills than the Royal Guards. They grew just from a few days together on Beltana so they will noticeably improve when hunting with the Silver Hand. Besides, now it is possible to receive thousands of gold.’
It was a plan to eat pheasant and egg. Clem also knew Ark’s expectations.
“Really, using a tactic to use a rival group to raise your subordinates while earning money. You shameless guy.”
But Clem accepted Ark’s proposal without any complaints. In the meantime he had steadily raised his favour with them.
“Now we have to separate for a while.”
Ark summarized the general situation and said. Hegel sent him a regretful look and carefully said.
“What will Hyung-nim be doing in the meantime?”
“Me?”
Ark turned his head as he suddenly remembered. After being lost in thought for a while, he sighed and muttered.
“I’m going to sell my body.”