It was like watching wild dogs with rabies. The terrible kapen skunks that foamed at the mouth were threatening monsters which stimulated a human’s primordial fear.
As she faced the skunks rus.h.i.+ng through the foothills, Royman, an Overgeared knight, yelled, “Archers! Run and seize the highlands! The spearmen and s.h.i.+eld soldiers will buy time here with me!”
“Waaaaahhhhh!”
The kapen skunks appeared at the outskirts of Reinhardt every spring and were level 277. Their strength and awful stench gave h.e.l.l to the knights and soldiers of the Eternal Kingdom. Due to the large casualties that occurred without exception, many tombstones were erected every spring, which produced the saying ‘there is no stone in the spring of Eternal.’
However, Reinhardt was now part of the Overgeared Kingdom. The knights and soldiers of Overgeared confronted the kapen skunks boldly. Their flesh had been trained while farming with Piaro!
“Haaap!”Royman moved faster than the skunks jumping on rocks, trees, and other objects as she placed her s.h.i.+eld on the ground, embedding the sharp end of the triangular s.h.i.+eld in it.
As soon as the skunks approached, the ground collapsed like it had been dug with hoes.
“...!”
Beasts were said to be sensitive to impending disasters. In line with this, the skunks that were flying through the steep foothills suddenly stopped with surprise. Then while they were startled by the sudden landslide, arrows rained down on them. Royman and the soldiers bought time while the archers occupied the highlands.
“Good!”
The jaffa arrows pierced the skunks and turned them to gray one by one. Pillars of light fell onto Royman and her people several times.It was the symbol of a level up.
***
“There is a signal from Sua’s group! The skunks in the Buren Valley have been completely eradicated!”
“There is a signal from Bland’s group! The skunks in the Fortina Field have been completely eradicated!”
“Royman’s group has sent a signal!”
“Okay. Then the southern section has also been cleaned.”
In the outer barracks, Lauel couldn’t hide his satisfied smile as he conducted the army with a map in front of him. He remembered the painful first spring they experienced after establis.h.i.+ng the Overgeared Kingdom.
Many villages on the outskirts of Reinhardt had been destroyed by the group of skunks, and countless people lost their lives or become refugees.It had been almost impossible to eradicate the skunks, considering their high breeding rate and the lacking power of the Overgeared members at the time. There would’ve been irreversible damage without Overgeared members like Pon and Regas.
However, as the years pa.s.sed, the Overgeared Kingdom became stronger. The talent Grid brought over from the East Continent, the people Piaro trained, and the army Asmophel raised meant that this year’s military power was the strongest ever. After they repelled the scary skunks in just two days, Lauel felt that their military power was hundreds of times stronger than before.
‘It is a reward that burns the soul.’
Lauel thought that the efforts and hards.h.i.+ps of the past were worth it. He felt proud of his contribution to the development of the kingdom, despite suffering from hair loss.
‘But...’
He couldn’t be satisfied with just this. The Overgeared Kingdom wasn’t the best yet. The Saharan Empire wasn’t the only threat to the kingdom. There was also the relatively recent threat of the Valhalla Kingdom. Furthermore, there was one more person.
‘Agnus...’
A few minutes ago, there was a world message about the birth of a new legend. One of the strongest enemies had been reborn as a legend, and this made Lauel nervous. The responsibility of raising the Overgeared Kingdom’s strength even further weighed down on his shoulders.
‘Things have become twisted in many ways.’
It wasn’t hard to speculate that Agnus’ cla.s.s, Baal’s Contractor, had grown to the legendary level. Additionally, a growth type cla.s.s probably didn’t have the level reset when it reached legend.
Lauel hadn’t expected Agnus to become a legend so fast.This had been due to Agnus’ method of gameplay. Someone had said, ‘There is no one who dies as often as Agnus among the high rankers.’ Agnus was a rare type of ranker who wasn’t afraid of death. Death in Satisfy meant a decline in growth, which had made Lauel predict that the timing of Agnus’ upgrade wouldn’t take place for a long time.
‘But it was the opposite...’ Lauel felt a chill as he thought about Agnus and realized what Agnus’ frequent deaths meant. ‘It means he has been continuously challenging content with little or no information.’
Agnus pursued a high risk, high-return gameplay method that was more like thorough calculations than madness. It was the reason why Agnus had stayed at 7th in the rankings for so many years despite dying so often.
‘He has his own standards. He can bear this level of damage until he reaches a shortcut... He has his own criteria...’
There was only one conclusion that could be made. Unlike what was known, Agnus wasn’t as mad as he seemed on the surface. Was Agnus a much stronger enemy than Lauel a.s.sumed?Lauel s.h.i.+vered and gulped as he realized this.
-Grid: Lauel.Send people to become a bus for Ruby and s.e.xy Schoolgirl.
A whisper came to Lauel from Grid.
-Grid: We have to raise them in order to be able to fight against Agnus.Additionally, raise the offerings to the Rebecca Church by three times.It doesn’t matter if there is a deficit.I will fill up the lacking money with my own money.We need more priests in order to fight an undead army.And in my personal opinion, there are NPCs who have completed training in the academy. Can’t we use them now?
-Lauel: Yes.I understand.
Lauel’s anxiety disappeared as he responded to Grid’s orders and opinions. So what if Agnus was stronger than he expected? It didn’t matter.After all, his master was also growing more than expected!
***
A towering tree soared into the sky. A few hundred meters away from the gigantic world tree, there was an elf village with houses made of dense branches.
“What?”
“Is this okay?”
Jishuka, Faker, Huroi, Pon, Regas, and Chris. The elite members of Overgeared were surprised and confused as they visited the elf village with Grid. It was due to Grid’s order to move away from national affairs and concentrate on their personal growth.
“Realistically, it is impossible. Look at Jishuka and Chris. Since the founding of the kingdom, they have been in charge of Bairan and Reidan. The two cities will become inoperable if they don’t do their jobs.”
“That’s right. The kingdom will fall into confusion.”
Becoming a lord was a dream for all players. They could build up their own territory, acc.u.mulating great wealth and power based on the taxes that came from there. However, a high status meant great responsibility.
Jishuka’s and Chris’ workloads were considerable. a.s.suming that they played Satisfy for 14 hours a day, at least a quarter of that time was spent on territory management. It was the same for the other lords. The lords of the country had their respective roles and were obliged to carry out these duties. The entire Overgeared Kingdom would become a mess if key members like Jishuka, Chris, and Pon didn’t do their jobs.
However, Grid didn’t withdraw his command.
“It’s okay. In the past few years, the Overgeared Kingdom has been able to develop thanks to you sacrificing your personal time. Now it is time to prove this development.”
“What?”
“I have secured NPCs to do your jobs.”
“What?”
Lauel had been struggling since the founding of the Overgeared Kingdom. Administrator Rabbit was the only NPC who could help Lauel with his work. Finding an NPC with administrative talent was like picking a star from the sky.
“Rabbit has selected talents and Sticks trained them at the academy.”
They trained people in administrative work, just like Piaro and Asmophel trained people in military work.
“Now, we aren’t lacking talents. Most of the work you are doing right now will be replaced by the new talents in the future. You have suffered a lot in the meantime. I am grateful for the work and congratulate you for being able to escape it.”
Agnus was a very aggressive person. He had dealt with both the Overgeared members and Valhalla before becoming a legend, and it was unknown how strong that monster would be now. It was likely that he would continue jumping without limit. Grid needed to be prepared for this.
“Go with the flow. As I said earlier, all of you should focus on your personal growth. Shouldn’t you change to your fourth advancement cla.s.s?”
Lim Cheolho had stated it clearly a few years ago at a press conference. A normal cla.s.s would eventually become as powerful as a hidden cla.s.s due to the cla.s.s advancements. Grid had felt somewhat deprived as a legendary cla.s.s, but now he realized he had been wrong.
‘It doesn’t mean I will have a disadvantage if everyone is strong.’
Why?
‘Now I have the best colleagues by my side.’
No matter how strong he was, there were many talented people in the Overgeared Guild who excelled at certain areas more than others. Grid believed in them and wanted to rely on their strength.
‘I also have to become stronger.’
By the time the normal cla.s.ses became as strong as legendary cla.s.ses...
‘I will be a myth-rated cla.s.s.’
It wasn’t a joke or arrogance. Grid had absorbed the power of great demons and produced several myth-rated items. So, he was sincerely looking at all the possibilities. Grid asked the cute elf called Deruyaru, “Speaking of my colleagues, can they hunt the ancient species while staying in the forest for a while?”
Aside from Deruyaru, the eyes of the 12 Te widened.
“Do you know how strong the ancient species are?”
“It is too dangerous if your colleagues aren’t as strong as you. They will lose their limbs.”
“That’s right. It is good for us if you hunt the ancient species, but... you are placing too big a burden on your colleagues. Please forget it.”The 12 Te refused Grid’s request due to how much they liked him.
However, in the midst of this turmoil, Deruyaru opened her mouth, “We don’t need to worry about Grid’s colleagues. They are all strong. I saw it myself.”
“...”
Weren’t humans originally weak creatures? Were they mistaken? Grid shrugged at the confused 12 Te. “There are dozens of kids who are as strong as they are. I will call them all to the forest in order to hunt. We will get rid of the ancient species.”
“Y-Yes...” It was too absurd to be a bluff.The 12 Te shook before nodding. Then a warm voice rang out in the air, -Children of the forest.The human loved by the G.o.ddess of light.Give him and his colleagues the blessing of the elementals.
It was the world tree. Grid and the Overgeared members were now experiencing a fraudulent event.
[The world tree has given you a huge blessing!]
[Player Grid and all the players in the Grid-led forces will be able to contract with elementals. However, it is limited to lower elementals. The attribute can’t be selected. The attribute will be given at random.]
[The benefit will only apply to existing members. Any new members won’t receive this benefit.]
Grid’s soul was leaving him when he heard the trembling voices of Jishuka and the Overgeared members.
“...I love Grid.”
“Me too...”
“Me too.”
“...”