Chapter 133
Chapter 133
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 133
Chapter Title: Double Reward (2)
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Of course, the more rewards, the better.
But.
‘I need to figure out why.’
That way, he could keep raking in even more rewards like this in the future.
‘Normally, achievements are rewarded based on contribution rankings.’
The gap between 1st and 2nd place in contribution was razor-thin.
‘But it’s wide enough to change the achievement rank you receive.’
Naturally, the lower your contribution ranking dropped?
Your reward rank dropped too.
For example, if 1st place got an EX-Rank achievement?
Then 2nd through 5th would get SSS-Rank achievements, one step down.
And 6th through 20th would get SS-Rank achievements, another step down.
If 1st place got an S-Rank achievement?
‘They’d all drop one rank accordingly.’
2nd through 5th getting A-Rank achievements, for instance.
But.
‘Why did Cecilia and I both get EX-Rank achievements?’
The quantities differed, but the reward ranks were the same.
In typical cases like this.
Contribution 1st place Kang Hyun-soo would receive the top reward of EX-Rank.
And the rest—four others—would get SSS-Rank.
For that to happen?
Song Ha-na, Spear Emperor, Dark King Cecilia, Sword King Jang Seok-won, Righteous Army King Shin Chang-hu.
‘One of those five would have to rank 6th in contribution and receive an SS-Rank achievement.’
That was normal.
Kang Hyun-soo had earned two EX-Rank achievements, and his two SSS-Rank ones had upgraded to EX-Rank.
This should have been the end of the EX-Rank rewards.
‘But Cecilia, who landed the killing blow, got one EX-Rank achievement and two SSS-Rank ones.’
Sword King Jang Seok-won, Righteous Army King Shin Chang-hu, Song Ha-na, and Spear Emperor had all received top-5 achievement rewards.
Top rewards only went to the top 5.
Yet six people had received them.
On top of that.
‘The 2nd through 5th rewards weren’t duplicated—it duplicated the 1st place reward for me and Cecilia.’
He’d rolled around in the Atlantis dimension for over 30 years, but he’d never heard of anything like this.
‘Could it be because the two EX-Rank achievements I got, and the two that Song Ha-na and Spear Emperor got, were growth-type?’
No way.
Even growth-type achievements had a massive gap between SSS-Rank and EX-Rank.
‘I got the 1st place contribution reward.’
Song Ha-na and Spear Emperor had simply received their fair 2nd through 5th place rewards.
‘Of course, because they rightfully ranked in the top 5.’
Otherwise, the achievements wouldn’t have grown.
‘Only one of Song Ha-na or Spear Emperor’s achievements would have grown.’
This was absolutely not a normal situation.
The only possibility?
‘Did they exclude me?’
Kang Hyun-soo’s subordinate commanders were players and summons.
Even if they fought as a party together, it counted as Kang Hyun-soo’s solo hunt.
Plus, his subordinate commanders received separate achievements as both his summons and players.
‘The achievement only said “The One Who Toppled Alone.”’
When he defeated Dragon Demon Karas.
When he defeated Baron Taliman.
In the system message windows.
‘It never said “Contribution 1st place.”’
He hadn’t thought much of it back then, but now it clicked.
‘Since it was solo hunting, not party hunting, there was no contribution ranking.’
In contrast, his subordinate commanders?
‘They got contribution rankings.’
So?
That meant it had registered as party hunting.
‘I wasn’t recognized as a party member.’
That’s why he had no contribution ranking.
-What’s your contribution ranking?
Kang Hyun-soo asked Cecilia.
-Strangely, I’m 1st place.
A smile spread across Kang Hyun-soo’s face at Cecilia’s reply.
‘My guess was right.’
Until now, Kang Hyun-soo had hunted in parties with his subordinate commanders.
He’d thought the Gaia System couldn’t properly distinguish between player and summon, so it gave him duplicate extra achievements.
But no.
‘They were recognized entirely separately.’
Kang Hyun-soo as solo.
The party of players appointed as commanders who were also summons.
Like that.
‘Come to think of it.’
When he’d wiped out those human hunters and slave traders.
‘The rewards were generous.’
Kang Hyun-soo got the best achievement.
Song Ha-na, Spear Emperor, Demon-Exterminating Spear King Jin Gu-pyeong, and Dark King Cecilia, who’d been involved, got less than him but still quite generous rewards.
He’d chalked it up to the achievements themselves being bountiful, but.
‘It separately acknowledged the rewards.’
That’s why Kang Hyun-soo got generous ones.
And so did Song Ha-na, Spear Emperor, Demon-Exterminating Spear King Jin Gu-pyeong, and Dark King Cecilia.
‘What a shame.’
He recalled defeating Dragon Demon Karas.
Song Ha-na and Spear Emperor hadn’t been much help in that raid.
Probably why.
‘They weren’t recognized as 1st in contribution.’
To be recognized as 1st in contribution.
‘You need clear merit.’
For example.
‘Like how Dark King Cecilia finished off Baron Taliman.’
Regret washed over him.
‘I should’ve yielded the killing blow to Song Ha-na or Spear Emperor back then.’
Then Kang Hyun-soo would’ve gotten massive rewards too.
And whichever of the two landed it.
‘Would’ve gotten even more generous rewards.’
Just like Dark King Cecilia with Baron Taliman’s killing blow.
‘This is a kind of bug.’
Kang Hyun-soo and his subordinate commanders, practically one entity.
Being treated as completely separate beings—a bug.
And the payoff for that bug?
‘Double rewards.’
Rewards that should be given only once.
Duplicated.
If there was a proper operator, they’d hotfix it and reclaim the rewards in no time.
‘But the Gaia System just runs on its initial setup.’
No operators seemed to exist.
So.
‘I’ll keep exploiting it from now on.’
Exploiting this bug?
‘Means double rewards for the same work.’
From Kang Hyun-soo’s perspective, planning to recruit even more players as subordinate commanders.
It was pure gold.
“Hey, who’d have thought the haughty Zhonghua Guild Master was with Dark Knight?”
“Ahem, same here. Never imagined the Balhae and Goryeo Guild Masters were Dark Knight affiliates.”
“Let’s get along from now on. We’re on the same side, right?”
“Well, yeah.”
“Did you get Dark Knight’s help in the fight against Kabbal Guild?”
“Here’s how it went...”
While Kang Hyun-soo was deep in thought.
Sword King Jang Seok-won and Demon-Exterminating Spear King Jin Gu-pyeong were busy building rapport(?).
“Haha, I never expected Shadow Dark’s leader to be such a beauty. But as head of an intelligence network, is it really okay to reveal your identity so easily?”
“We’re in the same boat anyway. With all the collaboration ahead, wasting time suspicious of each other would be so inefficient.”
“You’ve got a point.”
Dark King Cecilia and Righteous Army King Shin Chang-hu were also exchanging names and building rapport.
‘Not a bad thing.’
Since they were now subordinate commanders, betraying Kang Hyun-soo was impossible.
Revealing identities changed nothing.
And once they knew of each other?
‘No need to exchange info through me.’
For Dark King Cecilia, head of the intelligence network, it made things far simpler.
Plus, Balhae Guild and Goryeo Guild belonged to Terra Kingdom, while Zhonghua Guild was in Miteor Kingdom, sharing a border.
‘They can help each other when needed.’
Terra and Mulan Kingdoms were bitter enemies, making border crossing impossible.
‘But Terra and Miteor get along fine.’
They could organically assist whenever power was needed.
‘Their power balance seems even too.’
By scale, Demon-Exterminating Spear King Jin Gu-pyeong’s Zhonghua Guild was the largest.
‘Personality-wise, classic strong-against-weak, weak-against-strong opportunist.’
Such a Demon-Exterminating Spear King Jin Gu-pyeong might subtly try to lord it over as a senior.
But.
‘He felt the power gap just now.’
Sword King Jang Seok-won and Righteous Army King Shin Chang-hu, boosted by Kang Hyun-soo’s buffs, had surpassed mere “king” titles.
Compared to Demon-Exterminating Spear King Jin Gu-pyeong, barely clinging to “king” thanks to Kang Hyun-soo’s buffs.
‘They’re on another level.’
Give those two a bit more time to build fame?
Their titles would rise a rank.
So naturally, for Demon-Exterminating Spear King Jin Gu-pyeong.
‘No room to act out.’
If he did, Kang Hyun-soo planned to personally educate(?) him.
But it didn’t seem necessary.
‘In a way, the guy’s got great luck.’
The other commanders?
Kang Hyun-soo had sought them out personally, invested effort to scout them under his wing.
Demon-Exterminating Spear King Jin Gu-pyeong, though?
‘Left him to die in the fight, but he survived on his own.’
And ended up under Kang Hyun-soo by chance.
‘Win-win.’
Kang Hyun-soo gained Zhonghua Guild.
Demon-Exterminating Spear King Jin Gu-pyeong survived and became its guild master—profit.
‘Pretty quick on the uptake too.’
If he kept this up?
He could stay under Kang Hyun-soo indefinitely.
“Alright, time to head out.”
At Kang Hyun-soo’s words, Dark King Cecilia and Demon-Exterminating Spear King Jin Gu-pyeong prepared to leave.
Those two.
‘Officially, they were never here.’
The problem: the way back would be treacherous.
“Ride.”
At Kang Hyun-soo’s word, Dark King Cecilia and Demon-Exterminating Spear King Jin Gu-pyeong mounted the summon wyverns.
Coming had been instant via legion summon skill.
‘But leaving means going manually.’
Riding summon wyverns was the fastest option.
“Then we’ll be off, my lord.”
“Call on us anytime for more like this.”
“Yeah, safe travels.”
With that, the summon wyverns soared into the sky.
No entry records, so they’d ride wyverns into the cold wind until entering Roccto Empire or Miteor Kingdom territory.
“Ready to gain some fame?”
Kang Hyun-soo said to Sword King Jang Seok-won and Righteous Army King Shin Chang-hu.
“Yes, all set.”
Sword King Jang Seok-won beamed.
“I almost feel bad for Roccto Empire’s subjugation force—they’re in for some humiliation.”
Righteous Army King Shin Chang-hu looked a tad sorry.
“Old timer, no helping it. No need to expose Dark Knight’s full strength needlessly. And with the lord’s help, we can handle them ourselves—no need to call others and share achievements.”
“Well, true.”
Righteous Army King Shin Chang-hu readily agreed with Sword King Jang Seok-won.
“Then go.”
At Kang Hyun-soo’s word.
“Yep! On our way!”
“Yes, my lord.”
Sword King Jang Seok-won and Righteous Army King Shin Chang-hu departed.
‘Time to make it happen.’
Kang Hyun-soo activated his legion formation skill.
Shaaa!
At once, the slain Baron Taliman revived as a summon.
Thud!
Baron Taliman knelt respectfully before Kang Hyun-soo.
Kang Hyun-soo demoted Doppelganger No. 1 from interim battalion commander to company commander and appointed Baron Taliman as the new interim battalion commander.
‘Gotta use those two somehow.’
Dragon King Lee Ji-yong and Tiger King Lee Geun-taek.
The issue.
‘Dragon King Lee Ji-yong’s iffy.’
His contract with the demon race broke upon death.
‘Lost his dragonkin monster summoning ability.’
But his dragonkin transformation skill remained.
‘What’s the difference?’
Both powers from the demon race—why did one vanish and the other stay?
‘Maybe the summoning wasn’t in skill form.’
Plausible.
Anyway, the key point.
Dragon King Lee Ji-yong’s combat power.
‘Tanked hard.’
Only useful as a tank now.
‘Guess company commander at best.’
Such a shame.
At least.
‘Tiger King Lee Geun-taek’s solid.’
Kang Hyun-soo demoted Sword Ghost from battalion commander to company commander and appointed Tiger King as battalion commander.
‘Alright, time to go.’
Business done.
No reason to stick around.