Monetizing the Gateway

Green clenched his fists. I wasn't wrong to dump my entire fortune into this! I... I made the right choice!

"Ugh!" Green gasped, overcome with emotion. At the same time, he felt deeply ashamed of himself. How could he have doubted Power Warrior even after making the right choice?

Green immediately opened the Power Warrior guild officers' chat and cried out.

The guild officers were utterly bewildered. What is he talking about? Wait, don't tell me...?

There were all kinds of terrible rumors surrounding Power Warrior. The officers assumed their new recruit, Green, had caught wind of them and was furious.

Please don't leave!

It's so rare to find a normal, talented player like you!

Well, technically, dumping your entire fortune makes you a bit abnormal too, but still...!

Even the officers were shocked. Who knew the name Power Warrior held such terrifying sway? If they had known, they would have used it ages ago!

Seeing the officers celebrate so innocently, Green fell into a deep state of confusion. Did I... actually make the right choice joining this guild?

But there was no turning back now. The founding officers of Power Warrior were all diligent opportunists who had been lured in by Lee Da-bi's motto: "Let's live comfortably even if our levels are low!" They were the kind of people who faithfully prayed every single day, Please let us coast through Fantasy Online without doing any hard work.

Even after Power Warrior grew exponentially and high-level players and rankers flooded in, their mindset remained completely unchanged. None of them truly realized just how powerful Power Warrior had become! They had perfectly preserved their humble beginnings.

In a way, this was one of Power Warrior's greatest strengths. Usually, when a guild expanded, the leadership grew greedy, squeezing their members or imposing strict new rules. Power Warrior had none of that.

No restrictions on guild facilities! No restrictions on guild parties! Zero guild taxes!

Among giant guilds, it was incredibly rare to find one that didn't collect taxes, divide members into strict hierarchies, or restrict access to facilities. On top of that, Power Warrior genuinely cherished every single member. Despite their massive size, they were still the kind of guild that would desperately cling to anyone trying to leave.

While most giant guilds adopted a cold "leave if you don't like it" attitude, Power Warrior remained consistently, desperately welcoming.

"Great job on the first match, everyone!"

"Woohoo!"

"Senior. Isn't someone missing?"

"Ah. Cain probably got sent back to the Demon Realm."

"..."

"..."

The group fell into a solemn silence.

Cain...! Hang in there!

Since players were returned to their original locations after leaving the arena, Cain, who had been in the Demon Realm prior to the match, had no choice but to be sent right back there.

Well, now that Cain's identity is completely out in the open, it should actually be easier for him to move around.

Up until now, he had suffered immensely trying to play both the Prince's loyal knight and his true self, Cain. Now, his workload was effectively cut in half.

What? What are you looking at?

Ignoring Carbanog's silent bewilderment, Tae-hyun turned his attention back to the present.

"Your Majesty! The Sky Castle is operating perfectly!"

"Just listen to this beautiful sound!"

Clank, whirr, clank—

Archisus's Sky Castle floated majestically through the clouds, emitting a massive, mechanical hum.

The astronomical amount of metal scraped clean from the mines of the Salz Kingdom (which technically belonged to the Guild Alliance and Midas, but who was counting?) had been transformed into a series of terrifying defensive armaments. Anyone attempting to raid the Sky Castle would now be met with a devastating bombardment from above!

"...Wait a minute... Now that I think about it, isn't this a bit much?" Tae-hyun suddenly realized.

When the Underground Alliance Goblins had eagerly suggested, "Your Majesty! While we are repairing the Sky Castle, let us further reinforce its offensive and defensive capabilities!" he had casually agreed, thinking, Hmm, that sounds like a splendid idea.

But looking at it now, there was absolutely no reason to go this far!

As long as the Sky Castle could move properly, why on earth did it need to be this heavily armed? If a battle broke out, they could simply fly high into the stratosphere, and most attacks would miss entirely. Even if they faced aerial assaults, half of these armaments would have been more than enough to repel them.

Why did they crank the offensive power up to eleven?!

...Did those damn goblins brainwash me?!

Tae-hyun grumbled, but deep down, he knew the truth. He had wanted this too. A massive, overwhelmingly powerful fortress!

Well, whatever. It's already built...

Tae-hyun checked the other status windows of the fortress. In truth, he was far more curious about its utility features than its raw firepower.

Hey, when you put it like that, it sounds totally uncool.

Until a second ago, it felt like a majestic flying fortress bestowing wide-area blessings upon the land. But after hearing Carbanog's comment, it suddenly sounded like a giant piece of agricultural machinery spraying pesticides over crops.

"Tsk... We didn't need divine power or elemental magic..."

"It should have been powered purely by engineering..."

Even the Underground Alliance Goblins were grumbling about the various magical buffs. What they had envisioned was a magnificent (by goblin standards) fortress powered solely by pure, unadulterated engineering! Instead, the current Sky Castle had become a bizarre chimera of divine energy, elemental magic, and even the dark power of a Demon Duke.

Well, I expected as much.

Tae-hyun didn't bat an eye at the warning message. After all, he had literally stolen a Demon Duke's castle and run off with it. Of course they were going to hunt him down. Mana signature or not, they would have found a way to pursue him regardless.

"What do you plan to do with the Sky Castle?" Da-bi asked.

"For now... I'm going ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to have it continuously patrol the Atali Kingdom until we actually need it for something else."

Tae-hyun's plan was simple. Since the Sky Castle was fully mobile, he would set its flight path to circle around the Atali Capital and The Valley. As it flew, it would naturally rain down various wide-area buffs onto the land below. Players in the vicinity could simply hop aboard the fortress, grab some extra buffs, and head out to hunt.

The utility was mind-blowing!

In other kingdoms, players had to travel all the way to a grand temple to receive such divine blessings. Here, they could get them just by standing still. It was an absolute game-changer.

"We should exclude the southern region, right?"

"Oh, absolutely."

The southern region of the Atali Kingdom? Why on earth would he give free buffs to the lords down there who barely even listened to him? Those ungrateful bastards did nothing but trigger [Rebellion rate is rising] notifications whenever they got bored.

"With the Sky Castle sorted, my main concern now is the next quest..."

Tae-hyun had several options before him. First of all, his Demon Realm quest was still active. His objective had been to act as the vanguard and establish an outpost in the Demon Realm. He had technically accomplished that.

...Of course, the 4th Prince and Cain were still stuck over there, but thanks to the mirror portal, he could pull them out whenever he wanted. Once he brought back the 4th Prince and Cain, as for the rest of the stragglers...

Haha. You don't even have to tell me, buddy. That was my plan all along.

The Apostle and his guardian spirit were truly cut from the same cloth! Whether they charged a premium or an outright extortionate fee, they could easily bring the survivors back. That alone would mark the first phase of the quest as complete!

However, Tae-hyun could take it a step further. He could officially join the Erance Kingdom's Demon Realm subjugation expedition and fight alongside them. If he did, his quest rewards would multiply exponentially.

Hmm. Fair point.

While the Demon Realm was Hard Mode for normal players, for Tae-hyun, it was absolute Hell Mode. He had accumulated grudges with far too many powerful demons! On top of that, he now had the fresh, burning hatred of Furneus to deal with...!

Maybe I should compromise and just sell them the path?

He could simply provide the Erance Kingdom's Expedition with a direct route to the outpost fortress in the Demon Realm. That alone would be an astronomical advantage! Normally, traveling to the Demon Realm via the World Tree left players completely at the mercy of random coordinates.

Come to think of it, the Erance Kingdom's Expedition wouldn't just blindly march into the Demon Realm. Do they have some kind of teleportation magic? Something that lets them target a specific location in the Demon Realm...?

Whether they had such magic or not didn't really matter. Preparing and casting that kind of high-tier spell would take ages. In contrast, his mirror portal could instantly drop them right into the Demon Realm fortress with zero hassle!

If I make this public... the Demon Realm is going to become the hottest trend in Fantasy Online for a while.

When Tae-hyun first ventured into the Demon Realm, the giant guilds had scrambled to form raid parties and follow him, thinking, Wait, is there some hidden exploit over there? While a decent number of players had made the trip, it was nothing compared to the massive craze that would erupt if a safe path was opened.

After all, why had the vast majority of players given up on going to the Demon Realm in the first place? Not only was the journey incredibly perilous, but there was also no guaranteed way to return! One wrong move, and you'd be stranded in the abyss forever.

Giant guilds had the resources to assemble high-level parties capable of making the attempt, but for solo players, it was an impossible dream.

But what if a safe, stable highway suddenly connected the continent directly to a fortress ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠in the Demon Realm? Countless players who had previously given up would undoubtedly jump at the chance!

Well, yes, but... I was just worried that if a massive influx of players suddenly swarmed the fortress, the demons would start sniffing around.

?

...He's right.

Worrying about a demon invasion just because players gathered at the fortress was completely pointless. The time had come to stand and fight! If the demons were going to attack, they ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠would come from all directions regardless. It made no sense to halt their expansion out of fear.

"Alright. Let's make it public! Send an envoy to the King of Erance and start a massive promotional campaign! Da-bi!"

"Yes?"

"How much do you think we should charge for the toll fee?"

"...!!"

"You deceived us, Cain!"

"No... I didn't deceive you..."

"Boo! Boo!"

"We're so disappointed in you, Cain!"

"You're the guy who did nothing but die in the tournament!"

"Who the hell is that guy?!"