The Art of Governance

How should a territory be governed? This was a question that countless lord players had wrestled with since the days of Pan-On 1. There was no single correct answer. If there were ten territories, there were ten different ways; if there were a hundred, there were a hundred ways. A lord had to govern according to the unique circumstances of their land.

Each territory had its own unique personality and method of governance. Aside from the Central Continent, there were attempts to venture into the newly discovered southern Prica Continent to establish territories. These attempts were driven by guilds pushed out of the Auston Kingdom, or those active in the Erangs Kingdom and Espa Kingdom. Since there were no kingdoms but only tribes, establishing a territory was relatively easy... but there were far fewer players than on the Central Continent. Most players preferred the Central Continent, where information was abundant and well-known, rather than the Prica Continent, which was still shrouded in mystery. On top of that, the level requirements there were generally much higher!

Tae-hyun fell into deep thought. Currently, the capital city of Mora was heavily devastated (mostly due to the assault led by Tae-hyun himself). Restoring it would require an astronomical amount of gold. Although the gold Tae-hyun possessed was overwhelmingly vast compared to ordinary players, it was all being swallowed up by operational costs. Gold earned from clearing quests, gold from selling items plundered by PK-ing other players, gold generated from his territory... All of it was devoured by the territory's maintenance fees! He needed gold. A massive, absurd amount of gold.

'But I can't exactly do what the Guild Alliance did.'

The Guild Alliance already had an enormous number of guild members. Their power came from having the backing of the largest Chinese player base on the server! Because of this, they could endure even if they levied heavy taxes and practiced discrimination. Even if other players left the Auston Kingdom in droves, the kingdom kept running thanks to their guild members. Of course, the guild members' discontent piled up, but in their eyes, it was a small price to pay. However, Tae-hyun didn't have such a highly organized guild force, and the players currently with him could leave at any moment.

'In a way, the Guild Alliance is pretty pitiful. They finally managed to take over the entire Auston Kingdom, only for Sadiq's Avatar to show up and cause all that chaos...'

To Tae-hyun, it was truly tragic. Under those circumstances, he felt Su Ning's response was somewhat unavoidable. Of course, as the very person who had caused the disaster in the first place, he wasn't exactly in a position to talk.

'I can't raise taxes... So what do I do?'

After agonizing over it, Tae-hyun reached a conclusion.

"Everyone!"

"??"

As Tae-hyun appeared atop the inner castle wall, the heads of countless players in the city turned in unison. Everyone stopped what they were doing and focused on him!

"This expedition was a success!"

"Waaaaah!"

"And it is all thanks to your efforts!"

"Waaaaaaaah!"

"Therefore, I..."

"Are you giving out Goblin Universal Maker passes?!"

"No. Not that."

Sulk—

Tae-hyun was flustered as the expectant players' shoulders slumped in disappointment. No, he was trying to give them something way better than that!

"I plan to run this city together with all of you."

"?"

"?????"

The players couldn't comprehend what they were hearing. Tae-hyun's words were completely unexpected.

"We will calculate your contribution points, and those with the highest scores, please step forward! I will grant you whatever position you desire in this city!"

Instead of Tae-hyun ruling directly, he was selecting the 12 players with the highest contribution points from the expedition and granting them the right to govern the territory! Since the city's noble NPCs had been completely wiped out, the honor naturally fell to the players.

"W-We can do it?"

"Really?"

"Of course."

Tae-hyun smiled warmly. In truth, however, his mindset was closer to "if I can't ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠eat it, I might as well dump it on someone else." After all, only Tae-hyun could complete the quest to ascend the throne of the Atali Kingdom. Once he became king, whether it was a Free City or not, it would all fall under his control anyway. But now that the players were governing it directly, they would naturally empty their own pockets to repair and develop the city.

'Besides, those with the highest contribution points are bound to be rankers. They have plenty of gold and guilds backing them, so won't they squeeze themselves dry to run this place?'

"By the way, who's first in contribution points?"

"I don't know... Let's check the rankings..."

Thud, thud—

A player stepped out from the crowd. That, that was...!

"I am first, Tae-hyun-nim!"

"O-Oh, right."

First place was Gabriel. He had earned massive contribution points by blowing up both the outer and inner castle walls to clear a path! Tae-hyun's face stiffened slightly.

"Who's next?"

"That would be me."

Before long, the 12 members of the Governing Council were assembled: Gabriel, Evangeline, Cain, Yu Ji-soo, Lee Da-bi, Choi Sang-yun, Jeong Su-hyeok...

"..."

Tae-hyun's own circle made up more than seven of the members!

'Wait. I was trying to fleece some strangers for cash...'

"Pwahaha! Kim Tae-hyun! You did this on purpose because you knew we wouldn't lose even if we compared contribution points, right? Just to make it look fair."

"Shut up, you idiot."

"?!"

Cain spoke without reading the room and got scolded for his troubles. Still, the saving grace was that the remaining five members were outsiders. They all belonged to different guilds, and every single one of them was a ranker! They stared at Tae-hyun with dazed expressions.

"Is it really okay for us to govern?"

"As long as you guys agree on things, you can do whatever you want. Go wild."

"Wow... R-Really..."

Gulp.

Even though they were rankers, they had barely managed to squeeze into the lower tiers. To them, this was an unimaginable opportunity!

'Are we really going to govern a territory?!'

'An opportunity like this...!'

'What... what should we do first?'

Everyone's minds raced. In the midst of this, all eyes gathered on one person.

"..."

"Wait... isn't that guy a spy?"

"W-What about it?! I came in Mojek's place!"

Mojek of the Holy Knight is King guild. He had ranked 12th in contribution points during this expedition, barely squeezing into the Governing Council. However, since he had died in a one-on-one duel and was currently logged out, his guildmate friend had attended in his stead! Naturally, the others looked at him with suspicious eyes.

"The Holy Knight is King guild is pretty sketchy..."

"Should we vote to kick him out?"

"That's too cruel! We're comrades who fought together! Drop your prejudices!"

"Even if we drop our prejudices, the guild name itself is highly suspicious."

Whisper, whisper!

Tae-hyun shook his head as he looked at the gathered crowd in the meeting room.

'This is doomed.'

"Tae-hyun-nim, there is one good thing about this, though."

"?"

"Since we hold the majority, we can govern exactly how we want as long as we put our minds to it."

"...!"

Hearing Lee Da-bi's words, Tae-hyun realized. Come to think of it, there was that benefit!

"Next. Hmm. What is it... you want?"

The benefits weren't limited to just the top 12 in contribution points. Currently, all sorts of official titles in Mora City lay vacant: Guard Captain, Stable Manager, Alchemist Shop Manager, Blacksmith Guild Representative... Normally, these titles could only be obtained after clearing countless grueling quests. For example, if someone wanted to become a Guard Captain, they would have to continuously clear territory defense quests to build intimacy with the NPCs and accumulate ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠contribution points! Yet, Tae-hyun was casually tossing these out as rewards. Everyone was absolutely ecstatic.

"I-I want to be the Stable Manager! I've always wanted to try being a Stable Manager! I usually use the Monster Taming skill..."

"Approved!"

"?!"

The applying player asked back in confusion.

"Wait, aren't you going to ask me anything else?"

"Why? Were you planning on giving me a bribe?"

Pelmas, who was in charge of this task, asked with a deadpan expression. I really wish he would!

"N-No! How could I dare, when this is a generous gift from Tae-hyun-nim...!"

"Tsk."

"Did you just click your tongue?"

"No. Anyway, approved! Now get out of here! Shoo, shoo!"

Ed-an ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠had gone off to raid the royal palace, while he was stuck doing this menial labor. Still, Pelmas grumbled as he processed the paperwork. His natural knack for territory management hadn't gone anywhere.

"Next. Your name is..."

"Z-Zhang Shan."

"Right, Zhang Shan. What do you want to do?"

"Is the Guard Captain position still vacant?"

"First, second, and third are taken, but the Fourth Guard Captain is vacant."

"I want to do it!"

"Sure. Go ahead."

Pelmas immediately stamped the approval.

The message window popped up instantly! Zhang Shan was utterly bewildered. Because he was... a spy sent by the Guild Alliance.

'W-Wait. How did things turn out like this?'

The Guild Alliance had simply ordered him: "Hey, go observe this expedition. Don't get caught. And if you can sabotage them, do it as much as possible." He had barely followed any of those instructions. As for observing... he hadn't really seen much. There was just a massive BOOM! and the walls crumbled, people rushed in, a fight broke out in the inner castle, and then the expedition was over. Honestly, the Power Warrior Guild's promotional video probably explained it better. Sabotage? Far from sabotaging...

"Hey. Kim Tae-hyun might be tricking us."

"What are you talking about?! Who are you! What do you think you're doing!"

When someone who didn't trust Kim Tae-hyun tried to force their way into the inner castle midway through, Zhang Shan had actually attacked him.

"Are you one of those Holy Knight is King bastards?"

Of course, he had only done it to avoid getting caught himself, but looking back, he shouldn't have. A good spy was supposed to stir up trouble!

'Ugh... If I report this, they're going to tear me a new one...'

Zhang Shan writhed in agony. He had barely accomplished anything.

'But still, I got a title as high as the 4th Guard Captain. If I report this, won't it be useful?'

The title of 4th Guard Captain was a massive deal. Of course, the Guild Alliance's reaction would probably be: "We sent this bastard as a spy, so how the hell did he accumulate so many contribution points?"

'Wait. If I'm the 4th Guard Captain, isn't this position way better than my actual rank in the Guild Alliance?'

Zhang Shan suddenly realized. He was a spy who had ended up in a far higher position than his original rank!