I'll Work Harder Too!
"I... I'll do my best too!"
"I'm going to work even harder!"
"?!"
When the blacksmiths rushed forward and snatched the arrows from Tae-hyun's hands, he was utterly bewildered. *Did these bastards eat something bad?*
"No, I said I'll do it..."
"No, Tae-hyun! We'll handle this!"
"Please do something else!"
Don't tell me these guys realized how fast their stats are rising from this?
But Tae-hyun refused to back down.
"No! I'm doing it too!"
"How could you...!"
The more he insisted, the more deeply moved the players became!
The 1st Castle Wall has been completed.
The territory's public security rises significantly.
......
The 2nd Castle Wall is 10% complete.
The outer fortress of the castle wall has been complet...
......
There were so many construction completion windows popping up that it was hard to keep track of them all. An impregnable fortress was being built in the blink of an eye, without costing a single penny!
The Guild Alliance spies infiltrated in Tae-hyun's territory reported back in sheer panic at this mind-boggling situation.
—...This is what's happening. What should we do?
—......
Su Ning didn't even have the energy to get angry. He was just utterly dumbfounded.
Have they all lost their minds collectively?
If they were doing completely unrelated construction work under the guise of a quest, shouldn't they be protesting and complaining? Yet, as if they had all been hypnotized en masse, everyone was shoveling with absolute devotion.
In contrast, the situation for Su Ning and the Guild Alliance was the exact opposite. Levying such high taxes before even fully conquering the Auston Kingdom was digging their own grave...
Guilds that seized hegemony in games always appeared, but none lasted long. This was because they failed to manage properly and ran wild...
......
...This is how things are progressing. Perhaps the Guild Alliance needs to learn from Kim Tae-hyun's territory. Kim Tae-hyun's territory operates without taxes...
It read like an external analysis article written specifically to raise Su Ning's blood pressure! The problem was that this was a grievance shared by the vast majority of players. They had gone through all the trouble of capturing the capital of the Auston Kingdom, and all they got in return was more taxes!
Of course, Su Ning and the Guild Alliance executives had plenty to say in their defense.
We have no choice in this situation!
The conquest wasn't even fully complete, yet Sadiq's legions of demonic beasts were ravaging the surrounding areas. Money was desperately needed to rebuild the shattered territories and defend what remained. The wealth they had amassed during the war of conquest had been completely wiped out because of Sadiq's Avatar...
If they had at least embezzled the money, they wouldn't feel so wronged. Right now, the Auston Kingdom was a bottomless pit. No matter how much money they poured in, it just drained away.
—Ranker Lin Yao, take your mercenary unit and head to Ogden Fortress immediately! A demonic beast has appeared!
—Ranker McPhil, take the 1st Legion and head to Iren City! Three demonic beasts are running amok!
—Architects and guild members under Level 100 within the Guild Alliance, assemble! We must construct walls and moats to block the demonic beasts!
Su Ning squeezed out every last drop of available resources to issue his orders. They were reasonable commands, well-suited to the situation. Of course, that didn't mean the guild members were understanding.
—Wait, you want me to use my mercenary unit now? Will you compensate me if they die?
—Su Ning. The guys in the 1st Legion are complaining like crazy. They're asking how long you're going to keep exploiting them while taking so much in taxes.
—Guild Master. I think we need to offer at least some form of compensation. If we just force them to do manual labor quests, the backlash will be insane.
Urgh, ugh...!
Every single order he issued was met with constant pushback! Nothing ever went smoothly. Yet Tae-hyun was exploiting countless players with just a single word... It was so infuriatingly detestable!!
Thud!!
With a deafening roar, the castle wall shuddered. At the same time, the section of the wall slammed by the demonic beast crumbled to the ground.
The eastern wall is collapsing!
Sadiq's demonic beast is entering!
"Block it! Block it!!"
The players split into two groups: those screaming and fleeing, and those rushing forward to somehow hold the line! In an already dire situation, such division could only lead to one obvious conclusion.
Crash! Sadiq's demonic beast, looking like a giant salamander, squeezed through the breached wall and began wildly spewing flames.
Sadiq's Flame spreads to the buildings.
Sadiq's Flame begins to burn the watchtower.
Sadiq's Flame...
"Let's run!"
"Y-yeah, we have to..."
Just as even the remaining players were about to give up and flee!
Thump, thump, thump—
"?"
"It's Lin Yao! Lin Yao has appeared!"
Fortunately, the Guild Alliance ranker had arrived just in time, leading his mercenary unit! Thanks to him, the players could finally breathe a sigh of relief.
Lin Yao, who possessed the Epic Class Ancient Martial Artist, succeeded in taking down the demonic beast alongside the mercenary warriors he brought.
"Why the hell is it so strong? Damn it. Two of my mercenaries died."
"Still, we only managed to kill it because of you, Lin Yao! Thank you!"
"Of course you should be grateful. Damn it. If this keeps up, I'm going to go bankrupt. Do you have any idea how much effort I poured into raising this mercenary unit?"
Though he had obtained the mercenary unit through a quest, Lin Yao had put his all into nurturing them. Cherishing them, feeding them, giving them experience, equipping them... To think such precious mercenary NPCs had died just to take down a single demonic beast!
"It's a relief Sadiq's Avatar didn't show up in person."
Sadiq's Avatar, who had initially caused massive shockwaves by moving personally, was currently nowhere to be seen. Only the giant demonic beasts commanded by Sadiq were appearing to wreak havoc! People speculated, Maybe he's settled down and hiding somewhere.
"Is there any plan in the Guild Alliance to hunt down Sadiq's Avatar or whatever? By someone other than me, I mean."
"It seems difficult right now, as we're barely holding the line. Besides, there are many other quests we have to do..."
"That's just doing that bastard Su Ning a favor. Damn it."
Lin Yao grumbled, fully understanding what that meant. The "other quests" referred to the King Quest that had triggered for Su Ning. The executives and rankers of the Guild Alliance were well aware of all the major quests currently being undertaken by the alliance.
One of them was Su Ning's class change quest.
Currently, Su Ning had changed his class to the Epic Class, Lord. He had secretly researched the class and advanced to it in order to lead the massive guild flawlessly. But that wasn't the end. Upon completing a specific quest, a Lord could advance to the Legendary Class, King.
To do so, he had to completely dominate the Auston Kingdom. It wasn't enough to simply capture the capital; he had to track down and gather the symbols of the kingdom, place the crown upon his head, and ascend the throne! Originally, they had planned to rush the event of ascending the throne right after capturing the capital, but it had been postponed due to Sadiq's sudden invasion.
"Asking us to find items of the Auston Royal Family. Is that any job to give to a ranker like me? Damn it."
Lin Yao scanned the item list once more. The Banner of Abundance of the Auston Royal Family, the Decorative Sword crafted from the Black Iron of the Auston Royal Family, the Seven-Colored Jewel of the Auston Royal Family, and so on... Various items of the Auston Royal Family were listed, and Su Ning wanted as many of these items found as possible. This was because they were required to satisfy the conditions for his class change quest.
The problem was that nothing was a bigger waste of time than these item-hunting quests! If there were barely any clues, they were even harder to find. Lin Yao knew of a few rankers who had wasted ages and suffered immensely trying to find such items. Like Al*x or Jang*an...
The Guild Alliance member tried to soothe Lin Yao.
"But isn't it because they trust you, Lin Yao, that they're sharing this with you?"
"You try finding it then, damn it. The Seven-Colored Jewel of the Auston Royal Family? Look at this description. It says some bastard pried it off the crown, so how the hell am I supposed to find it! I'm not even a Thief class!"
"By the way, this territory... feels a bit strange, doesn't it?"
Evangeline, who had been waiting while countless people worked on the construction, felt a strange sense of incongruity.
"Strange? You're only realizing that now?"
Tae-hyun looked at Evangeline as if she were pathetic. To only realize this territory was strange now. How dense could she be!
"...I'm not talking about those slot machines, or the lunatics, or the colosseum, or things like that..."
"They aren't slot machines, and they aren't lunatics, but whatever, let's just go with that. What are you talking about then?"
"Aside from that, aren't the taxes here way too low? And the NPCs seem excessively happy..."
"Are you saying it makes no sense for my territory to run so smoothly?"
"N-no, that's not what I mean. It just doesn't add up."
Evangeline couldn't wrap her head around it. To be sure, Tae-hyun's territory possessed distinct advantages and charms, but it also had many shortcomings. Compared to other major cities, it was missing a lot of basic buildings! This was the result of prioritizing buildings related to the Archisus Church. The lack of standard facilities naturally caused inconvenience to players and affected the satisfaction of the resident NPCs. Yet, the residents of Tae-hyun's territory were overflowing with happiness. What on earth was going on?
"Hmm. Maybe it's because of the items I brought back from various places."
"Items?"
The Banner of Abundance of the Auston Royal Family, the Decorative Sword Crafted from the Black Iron of the Auston Royal Family, the Seven-Colored Jewel of the Auston Royal Family, and so on... They were all items Tae-hyun had pocketed from the Auston Kingdom. He wore the ones that could be equipped, and installed the ones that could be placed in his territory! Since they were incredibly powerful items, their effects when installed in the territory were spectacular. Not only did they naturally lower taxes and reduce discontent, but they also provided all sorts of additional buffs!
Hearing his explanation, Evangeline gasped in admiration.
"There are items like that? Wow, I've never heard of them before. Wait, where did you get them?"
"Ah. It looks like the chefs over there are calling for my help. I'd better go assist them."
"......"
Scurry!
Watching Tae-hyun make a hasty retreat to avoid answering, Evangeline cast a suspicious gaze after him.
Surely he didn't steal them, right? No way. Even if it's Kim Tae-hyun, stealing something like that from the royal palace would be impossible. Did he get them from some secret quest? Why is he being so stingy and hiding it? It's not like I'm the type to go around blabbing to people.
Even Evangeline never dreamed that Tae-hyun had actually stolen them.
Left alone after Tae-hyun's departure, Evangeline looked around out of sheer boredom. Since she had come alone for this quest, leaving her other friends behind, she didn't know many people in this territory.
Is there anyone I know...?
She didn't want to acknowledge Cain.
Ah!
Spotting Yu Ji-soo, Evangeline's face lit up with delight. A player she had wanted to become close with ever since she first saw her, thinking she was adorable!
Scurry!
But the moment Yu Ji-soo saw Evangeline, she bolted.
Why?!
"Da-bi, what do you think about me joining Power Warrior?"
"Pardon...? Why on earth...?"
Lee Da-bi stared at Yu Ji-soo with a bewildered expression. Why would she want to dig her own grave when she was already in a perfectly good, elite guild?
"I've been thinking about it. How Cain and Evangeline are able to be so close to Tae-hyun Oppa."
I'm pretty sure it's just because they're his easy marks...
Lee Da-bi thought this, but she kept it to herself out of respect for the dignity of those two.
"It's because both of them have helped him immensely with quests in the past! And they're still helping him right now!"
Is that really what you call helping...?
Strictly speaking, Da-bi felt it was much closer to being ruthlessly exploited by Tae-hyun. But Yu Ji-soo was dead serious.