Chapter 346
Chapter 346
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 346
Chapter Title: Land of Sorcery (2)
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“Enough. We’ll handle our own affairs.”
The master of the Yellow Dragon Guild, who arrived soon after, lightly rejected Rokan’s offer.
Was it because American users had already come down once, so they had no intention of stirring up trouble themselves?
Of course, that might be part of it, but it seemed more like they had strong confidence in handling things on their own.
“Fine. Do as you like.”
Rokan didn’t cling when they responded that way. Instead, he strongly hinted that he’d go offer his services to users from other countries.
Japan, for example.
While Americans had the worst relations with Chinese users, the Japanese were no slouches in their wariness either.
They didn’t show open hostility, but those guys were masters at sowing discord behind the scenes, so they just might put in a request to crush the Chinese users.
The Japanese were most wary of Koreans, of course, but even Rokan had no intention of trampling his own countrymen.
It wasn’t patriotism—Korean users were ultimately his source of income, the ones who would kneel at his feet.
He’d already pocketed enormous sums from the Americans and Russians, so why cut off his nose to spite his face?
“Hmph, arrogant bastard.”
As Rokan turned to leave, the Yellow Dragon Guild master’s venomous voice drifted subtly behind him.
‘This prick... Should I come back and smash them later?’
He considered it for a moment but held back for now. Someday, those Chinese bastards would grovel and bow their heads to him.
He mentally jotted down their name in a corner of his mind and exited the city.
“An assassination commission? Hmm, could I have some time to think it over?”
Next, he approached the Japanese users.
It wasn’t ideal to go around soliciting such jobs first, but the momentum was already there.
He did set one rule, though.
He wouldn’t accept commissions targeting countries that had already been attacked.
Korean users were excluded as well, naturally.
The sly Japanese glanced at Rokan cautiously before asking for time to consider. Rokan added one of them as a friend so they could message him later, then moved on to users from other countries.
France, India, Britain, and so on—the guilds from major nations that had reached the heavens early were his targets.
But most expressed reluctance or said they’d think about it.
Trampling rival nation users for money and items was tempting, but they were keenly aware that the blade could turn back on them.
Word had also spread that America and Russia had commissioned each other to mutual destruction, making them even more hesitant.
It was a card they could play anytime, but pulling it out first felt too risky.
Negotiations dragged on without much gain, but Rokan didn’t get impatient. Just planting the seed was enough.
Even if not now, they knew they could hire him as a mercenary at a critical moment. Sooner or later, they’d come calling.
“The Gale Relic...”
As he wandered, Rokan faced a dilemma of his own.
Should he proceed with the quest he’d accepted, or search for the Gale Altar?
He didn’t know where the Gale Altar was, but upon reflection, it wasn’t that hard to find anymore.
He had the Compass of Desire.
True, it only pointed in a direction, so pinpointing the exact location would take considerable time. But if he really wanted to, he could track it down.
‘Should I at least check it out?’
After mulling it over, Rokan decided to give the Compass of Desire a try.
Pinggrrr.
“...?”
But no direction appeared.
Was his will too weak? Or was the Gale Altar in a region even the Compass of Desire couldn’t detect?
It was odd. The needle just kept spinning endlessly.
“Ah, could it be?”
A sudden thought struck him. What if the Gale Altar wasn’t in the heavens?
Rokan immediately used the Rainbow Teleporter to descend to the surface.
It guzzled massive coins each time, but for Rokan—who was running multiple ventures in the heavens—it was pocket change.
Pinggrr.
Trying the Compass of Desire again on the surface, it pointed in a clear direction.
“As expected.”
Just as he thought, the Gale Altar was on the surface.
He only knew the direction, but with some coin-burning, he could shorten the search dramatically. He could just keep teleporting to cities in that direction.
Narrow the range, then use a unicorn or Kai’s speed to scour around, and he could slash the time to a minimum.
“Hmm, shall I narrow it down a bit?”
Stroking his chin thoughtfully, Rokan lightly set off in the direction, using teleportation magic circles.
Once, twice, three times.
“Huh?”
He kept moving, but the compass direction didn’t change. He even flew to the farthest city in that direction, but no dice. Rokan’s expression soured.
“A new map, huh.”
The Gale Altar was clearly in a region that hadn’t been accessible until now.
Beyond the newly expanded forbidden zones.
Part of him wanted to pioneer the surface’s new maps while he was at it, but he quickly dismissed it. Waste of time.
Wouldn’t users handle the pioneering themselves? Once enough succeeded, trade routes and teleport circles would connect, so waiting would save time.
Sure, the pioneer title rewards were tempting, but they were just surface-level titles anyway—not exactly top efficiency.
Besides, weren’t there already people pioneering or who had done it?
As latecomers, any titles now wouldn’t be “firsts,” so they’d lost their shine.
“Later, Gale.”
In the end, Rokan clicked his tongue and prepared to return to the heavens—to the Phantom Demon Realm.
Since he’d burned a ton of coins to come here, he couldn’t go back empty-handed, right?
He withdrew most of the accumulated tax funds and quietly collected potions from the alchemists he’d been nurturing in secret.
Rare potions whose recipes he’d obtained from Edal joined the beauty potions, stacking neatly in his inventory.
They weren’t available on the surface or even the heavens yet, but this was his chance to launch a proper business.
“Establish trading company.”
[Establishing trading company.]
[Verifying qualifications.]
[Transcendent qualifications confirmed.]
[You may establish a trading company.]
[Please name your trading company.]
“Gold Coin.”
[Gold Coin Trading Company established.]
Establishing a trading company in the heavens required qualifications.
To prevent riffraff from cluttering the market, visitors needed to be Transcendents—Grand Masters—to open shops at outposts and run companies.
For now, Rokan was the only one who met the criteria.
Meaning he could monopolize selling items that tempted NPCs.
Heavenly goods already dominated surface ones overwhelmingly, but what about potions?
Rokan made Edal-recipe potions his mainstay and began buying shops in major outposts to set up.
He even hired NPC staff to enable intermediary trade in local specialties, starting sales simultaneously.
“This is the exception.”
One thing: beauty potions alone would only be available via traveling peddlers, not fixed shops. He formed a special peddler group for them.
They’d approach high-ranking officials in each faction, selling only beauty potions—at exorbitant prices.
He didn’t need to sell tons. Premium strategy relied on word-of-mouth and scarcity.
No need to spread rumors deliberately; users would talk, and prices for his exclusive beauty potions would skyrocket.
He could slowly add a few of Edal’s developed potions to boost profits further.
“Whew, real estate’s no joke.”
Massive coins vanished in an instant, but no matter. He had plenty left and could refill them quickly, easy calculations.
Plus, he’d named the company to avoid linking it to himself, so no sabotage plots.
A little thought might connect the dots, but no one could tell if it was a visitor’s or another Transcendent NPC’s outfit.
With the Gold Coin Trading Company launched and running, Rokan returned to the Phantom Demon Realm.
He stopped by his shops in the Land of Illusions to restock consumed items, then used the Rainbow Teleporter to keep his promise to Azar.
To the Land of Sorcery, teeming with magic-type familiars.
“Land of Sorcery, huh...”
Back in the city under the Land of Sorcery’s domain. Everyone wandering here screamed “mage” at first glance.
Not that there were no melee familiars, but even they had some magic aptitude.
Rokan sat by the plaza fountain, enjoying observing them.
Familiars were such unique creatures that memorizing them visually would prevent future headaches.
He couldn’t scan their abilities, but his vast game experience and senses let him roughly gauge combat styles from appearances and movements alone.
“Alright, time to head out?”
After sufficient observation, Rokan dusted himself off and moved. To hunt, naturally.
But he had no intention of ruffling the Sorcerer King’s feathers right away.
He’d start with outer familiars to get a feel.
“Gale Incarnation!”
Phantom Demon Realm familiars broadly split into two types: those with affiliations and unaffiliated ones.
Affiliated ones usually had intelligence and served one of the five kings.
Touching them meant defying their king, but unaffiliated ones could be slaughtered without issue.
They even had slightly different traits; the beast-type monsters Rokan hunted in the Land of Illusions were that sort.
“Full-Body Charge!”
Kudangtangtang!
Even unaffiliated familiars in the Land of Sorcery were mostly magic-types.
The regional aura favored magic-born familiars, and they were easy prey for Rokan.
Immense resistance, no-cast-time charges, and space-piercing attacks!
Plus, overwhelmingly devastating offense that left no room for counters—perfect counters to magic-types.
He could say this while facing hordes of level 400 beings purely due to matchup.
Races innately wielding magic tended to have pathetic vitality.
Their prized firepower got halved—no, more—before reaching Rokan, and even if it hit, his Immortality Authority devoured the damage, letting him rampage freely.
[You have leveled up.]
Adapting to fighting magic-type familiars didn’t take Rokan long.
Some odd ones used magic despite being beasts or channeled it through cold weapons, but fighting with magic in mind neutralized them completely.
“Alright, time to get serious?”
This was enough. Prep was done ages ago; he’d just been milking the Gale Incarnation’s duration.
But with it expired, cooldowns and debuffs active, Rokan saw no reason to wait.
He pulled out Azar’s detailed map of the Land of Sorcery and marked spots.
Locations of particularly strong, loyal familiars under the Sorcerer King.
His lips curled into a grin at the thought of the chaos he’d unleash.