The Orc Horde Splits
The very first thing Tae-hyun did was pull in the nearest armies.
Count Anong, in particular, had been easier to bring over since his base of operations was the relatively safe Erangs Kingdom.
Of course, it had cost him.
“Urgh...”
Looking at the gold pouch that had vanished, Tae-hyun let out a groan.
Even after bringing in Count Anong—whose Affinity and Respect for him were both high—this much gold had still disappeared.
Still, the fact that he could hire them with gold at all was remarkable.
For most players, no amount of money would let them mobilize a noble’s private army.
That only became possible if you had connections, cleared the right quests, and built a relationship first.
I’ve got Count Anong and Count Marcel for now... Is there any other force I can scrape together somewhere? Should I just hire mercenaries?
Mercenaries were much easier to hire than noble armies.
As long as you had the gold, that was enough.
Of course, that also meant they were weaker than the troops nobles kept under their command—but from a player’s perspective, just being able to hire them at all was something to be grateful for.
Cain, back when he’d been the leader of the Red Zone Guild, had even taken on debt to hire mercenaries.
Because he’d needed the firepower.
“Tae-hyun, I’ve called in the mercenaries we were using as the merchant group’s escorts.”
“Good. Nice work. No telling when the Orcs will arrive. They won’t get here immediately, but...”
The Orcs wouldn’t be able to locate Cain’s position right away, and the castles and territories along the route of the Orc army wouldn’t just sit there and let them pass.
Naturally, fighting was bound to break out everywhere they went.
Their original goal might have been to avenge Karag’s son, but once an army of this size had risen, whether Cain lived or died no longer mattered. The Orc host would rampage with everything it had.
If the Orc army comes looking for us, they’ll hit theOston Kingdomfirst.
The Oston Kingdom was currently drowning in civil war.
It was a kingdom that mattered to both Tae-hyun and Cain.
The fortress Cain had seized so he could collect taxes had been in that very kingdom.
That had only been possible because the civil war had left them too distracted to care.
Since it lay furthest east, it was obvious the Oston Kingdom would be the first to suffer if the Orc army came through.
But I doubt the Oston Kingdom will actually stop them...
They were too busy fighting each other to go out of their way to stop Orcs.
A few castles and cities might resist, sure—but most of the Orc army would probably break through.
And then everything would depend on whether they turned north or south.
North led to the Salz Kingdom, home of the Tyrum Hunters.
South led to the Atali Kingdom, where Tae-hyun had established himself.
West would mean the Erangs Kingdom, but a massive mountain range blocked that route, so the horde was more likely to come north or south.
I’d love it if they went to the Salz Kingdom, but they probably won’t.
The Orcs had eyes too.
The Salz Kingdom was harsh mountain country, with very little worth pillaging.
The Atali Kingdom, on the other hand, had broad plains and wealthy cities full of things to loot.
If Tae-hyun had been an Orc, he’d have chosen the Atali Kingdom too.
And of course my territory’s relatively far north too...
He hoped the Orc armies would get stalled in some other Atali territory first, but his own land seemed likely to come under attack before that happened.
Bang, bang, bang—
Thunk-thunk, thunk-thunk!
“...?”
Everyone else had gone off to handle their own preparations against the Orc army, but the sound of hammering still rang through the territory.
Architect-class players were still hard at work, hammering away as they built.
They were the same players who had joined the territory’s construction quest even before the auction had begun.
And that wasn’t all.
There were players remaining all over the territory—more than he’d expected.
Not just the architect players, either. Regular players were still around too.
“Why are you still here?”
“What? Who the hell are you picking a fight with— huh? Kim Tae-hyun?!”
The player who turned around without thinking froze in shock the second he saw him.
“I-I’m a fan—”
“That’s not really what I’m asking.”
“...”
“The Orc army’s coming. I’m wondering why you’re still here.”
“Well... even if I go back to the city I was staying in, it’s not like I can really join the quest properly... I’m low level, and I’m not even a combat class. I also haven’t really done anything for the guild in that city, so if I go back, there’s not much waiting for me there. So I figured I’d just stay here and watch...”
It was, in its own way, a very realistic reason.
Not just anyone could participate in a siege quest in their city.
Most production classes had a hard time qualifying, and even combat classes couldn’t get in if their level was too low.
For low-level players, or crafting-class players who hadn’t built up much standing in a city, there was no real reason to go back just to take part in a siege.
“I came from the Espa Kingdom, so I figured the Orc quest probably had nothing to do with me. That’s why I stayed.”
“Me? I don’t care about death penalties anyway, so I stuck around to see what Kim Tae-hyun would do.”
Each player had stayed behind for their own reasons.
But even if the circumstances differed, what they were expecting from Tae-hyun was all the same.
True, just a moment ago Tae-hyun had been seriously considering saying, Should I just run for it?
But then—
Tap.
Tae-hyun placed a hand on one player’s shoulder.
All the other players nearby turned to look at him.
“Thanks. Really. For staying here.”
“...!”
It looked like a surprisingly moving moment.
The other players stared at the chosen few with openly envious eyes.
I stayed too!
They all took the scene in the most sentimental way possible.
Like he was saying, Thank you for trusting me enough to remain here.
But that wasn’t what Tae-hyun had meant at all.
I’m short on labor, so if they want to volunteer for suffering, I’m the one who should be thankful.
In Tae-hyun’s eyes, they were nothing more than suckers who had conveniently rolled right up to him.
Boom!
Kwa-kwa-kwa-boom!
KROOOOOOOOAR!
With a monstrous bellow that tore through the air, an earth-shaking thunder rolled outward.
“Karag! Karag!”
“Great Karag!”
The Orc army massed beneath the walls was terrifying beyond words.
They drove all manner of monsters before them, came heavily armed themselves, and charged under the support of Orc shamans casting spells over them.
And there seemed to be no end to their numbers.
The players standing atop the walls looked out at the Orcs and went pale.
“Hey... this is a bit much...”
“Was it really this bad?”
The players who had joined the siege expecting their city or castle to naturally win were now flustered by the overwhelming scale of the Orc army.
The Orcs’ war cry rings out.
The Orc army’s morale rises.
You cannot withstand the fear.
All stats decrease.
“Do not fear! Those Orcs may look numerous! Those Orcs may look powerful! That Orc warrior in front may indeed be wearing thick heavy armor, carrying a razor-sharp battle-axe, fully buffed by shamanic magic, and even riding a monster, but...!”
“...”
The players stared at the NPC officer bellowing from the wall as if he’d lost his mind.
The commanding officer was somehow managing to say every possible thing that would crush morale.
“...But we have these great and sturdy walls, this deep and uncrossable moat, and mighty mages as well— Ghk!”
“?!”
The officer screamed and toppled off the wall.
A thick Orc arrow had punched straight through his throat.
“Grrr... human! Shoot! Hit! Kill!”
The sheer power needed to pierce the magical barrier from that distance and still land a lethal shot—there was no way that was some ordinary high-level enemy.
Pak! Pa-pak! Pa-pa-pak!
The Orc archer didn’t stop there.
The players who had thought they were safe because they were high up on the walls shrieked and threw themselves flat.
One hit, and if your luck was bad, you died.
“Rashajag’s aim is as sharp as ever!”
Watching Rashajag fire from afar and knock players off the walls, Karag nodded in satisfaction.
Even as Great Chieftain, he couldn’t truly command every single Orc gathered here.
The players were mistaken—this Orc army was really a coalition force.
The various Orc chieftains, bullied and persuaded by Karag, had joined their strength with his to launch this grand assault.
Karag held command authority, yes, but if he pushed too far, the chieftains beneath him would refuse him outright.
Rashajag, currently raining arrows down from afar, was one of those chieftains.
His tribe was famed for its powerful Orc archers.
Thud! Thud-thud-thud!
As arrows poured down onto the walls, the Orcs advanced on the gate.
Even the deep moat meant little in the face of such numbers.
The walls and gate shuddered under endless pounding.
To the players waiting inside, it was pure terror.
“...Should we run?”
Someone finally said it out loud.
Abandoning a siege midway through carried brutal penalties, but even that was better than eating a death penalty.
You are deserting the siege.
Your reputation in the city plummets drastically.
For a while, the NPCs of this city will despise you.
Some city functions will be unavailable to you for a period of time.
Desertion.
In spite of the penalties, players had already started fleeing through the rear gate.
Unaware of the chaos behind them, the players at the gate fought with everything they had.
“I planted the bombs! Try luring them over!”
“Are those things actually reliable?!”
“Trust me! On stream, Kim Tae-hyun—”
KWA-KWA-BOOM!
The bomb misfired and struck your allies.
Your Infamy increases.
You have obtained the title: Mechanical Engineer Full of Mistakes.
“You son of a bitch! I told you not to use Mechanical Engineering!”
“Anybody learning Mechanical Engineering deserves to have both hands smashed to pieces!”
The players inside the city shouted in fury.
Worse than the Orcs outside were allies like this stabbing them in the back.
Chwiiiik!
“!?”
But the damage was already done.
Thanks to the explosion around the gate, the Orcs’ attack became even easier.
Thud! Thud-thud!
Holes began opening in rapid succession.
And then the Orcs started pouring in.
“U-uaaah...”
“Kim Tae-hyun held them off just fine!”
“You’re still saying that, you idiot?!”
Cursing his friend, one player after another turned and ran.
Rumble!
Crash!
In the darkness, the walls began to collapse piece by piece.
Some players fought to the very end.
Some fled.
And some outright betrayed the city and defected to the Orc army.
Players who had chosen the Orc race found betrayal comparatively easy.
“I want to serve with the Orc army!”
“Chwik, good! Start as the lowest of low warriors. Earn merit!”
Other races were not accepted so easily.
And when morning broke, the banner flying over Inen Castle was an Orc one.
Fantasy Online 2 was so popular that in-game events were being turned into news articles.
Thanks to that, Tae-hyun—who had made more than his fair share of enemies—was able to get a rough grasp of how things were unfolding from the articles.
Just as he’d expected, the Oston Kingdom had failed to properly stop the Orc army.
Several castles lying along the Orcs’ route had been plundered.
The players stationed there had been hit by a disaster out of nowhere.
“The Orcs who occupied the Oston Kingdom have now begun splitting up and moving in different directions.”
“Split up?”
Tae-hyun had seen footage of the Orc army too.
Their numbers had blackened the horizon.
If a force that size came crashing down in one wave, even Tae-hyun honestly wasn’t confident he could handle it.
But they were dividing up?
That, at least, was a relief.
“Some have turned toward the Salz Kingdom, some toward the Atali Kingdom, and according to explorer player Zepol, Orc forces have even been spotted crossing the mountain range into the Erangs Kingdom.”
“??”
Wasn’t that a little too free-form?
Tae-hyun tilted his head.
He’d assumed they would come in one massive, tightly packed force...