Preparations (1)
The curiosity sparked by the words Horde and Alliance refused to fade even after I left the capsule and mulled it over. Still, I couldn’t exactly march into Changing headquarters or ask Secretary Kim outright. In my play report I simply wrote that the Horde and Alliance clichés were entertaining, reminisced about how it reminded me of the old WOW days when players fought one another, and added at the end that it would have been more fun if other users had been there. I watched for any reaction. But Secretary Kim reviewed the report and offered no comment whatsoever. All he said was that it was fine for me to participate in the fighting between the Horde and the Alliance.
It left a bad taste in my mouth. I wanted to talk to James Lee about that uneasy feeling and get his advice on linking up with the other users. Since he worked for the FBI, I figured he might have access to methods ordinary people didn’t. The problem was that he hadn’t picked up his phone for over two days. Worried he might have been forcibly disappeared, I called the office number listed on his business card.
“Team Leader James has been dispatched to the Department of Defense. He’s currently working inside a secure facility, which is probably why you can’t reach him on his personal line.”
The staff member sounded like it was no big deal, but the words “Department of Defense secure facility” sent a chill down my spine.
“We don’t have a set date for his return, so I can’t tell you when he’ll be back. I’ll leave a message that Mr. Park Jinwoo from Korea called.”
When it became clear I couldn’t reach James, I dialed Susan from the American Game Addiction Association—the person he had told me to contact. But she only said hysterically that she had handed over all the materials to the FBI and begged me to leave her alone before hanging up. It seemed someone had swept through her surroundings and applied pressure. Some invisible force was blocking even an FBI agent from making contact.
I needed a way to protect myself from that unseen power.
Should I tell the Korean government the truth and ask for protection?
They would probably shield me at first. But the moment the Americans said anything, I suspected they would spit me out and pretend they knew nothing. Relying on the government wasn’t the answer. Yet no matter how I tried to prepare, I couldn’t see any clear countermeasures. The only path was to keep pretending I was just an ordinary gamer who believed this was nothing more than a real game, and look for an opening while I did.
Because the war between the Horde and the Alliance meant I would be away from the dungeon for a long time, I decided to start by solving the food problem for those left behind.
“…By the grace of God Sadalla, bestow abundance upon us! Om Mani Padme Hum!”
The lettuce and radishes planted in the newly cleared fields began shooting up rapidly under the combined effect of the activation buff and growth buff. The followers of Blatian who watched it happen erupted in cries that a miracle had occurred.
They had personally cleared twenty majigi—roughly four thousand pyeong—of farmland, sown the seeds, and transplanted seedlings. The crops they planted had barely grown a handspan; harvesting them at all would have been a blessing. Yet thanks to divine blessing they were ready to harvest immediately. To people who had farmed their entire lives, it truly looked like a miracle.
“Even when I was in the order, I only ever heard stories about miracles. Seeing one with my own eyes makes me realize the greatness of the gods.”
“They say even the god of farming doesn’t grant blessings that let you harvest in a single day. This is incredible.”
“…We’ve witnessed such tremendous divine greatness, yet the problem is that the god showing it isn’t ours.”
“Do you think our Lord Blatian is watching over us? Does he even know we’re here?”
Someone spoke those self-mocking words while staring at the growing crops, but no one else could open their mouths.
“By the way, that little lady was reciting the same prayer. What does ‘Om Mani Padme Hum’ actually mean?”
“Master said it’s a prayer asking the gods to help us reflect on our sins and live righteous lives.”
Yanne explained it to the farmers as best she could, but she didn’t know the precise meaning either. In truth, “Om” means the universe, “Ma” the asura realm, “Ni” the human realm, “Pad” the animal realm, “Me” the hungry ghost realm, and “Hum” the hell realm. It was a mantra representing the Buddhist scriptures that encompass all those worlds. Chanting “Om Mani Padme Hum” was essentially the same as reciting the sutras written with the Buddha’s words; it was a widely used prayer that meant continuously reciting the Buddha’s teachings could lead to enlightenment. Since ordinary people couldn’t read the difficult Sanskrit scriptures, this became a method of practice. Jinwoo couldn’t explain all that to Yanne, so he simply told her it was a prayer asking the gods to help them reflect on their sins and live righteously.
Those hard-to-understand words created an air of mystery. The Blatian followers who witnessed both the mysterious chant and the crops growing visibly before their eyes unconsciously began murmuring “Om Mani Padme Hum” themselves.
“Don’t harvest the ones that can still produce seeds—leave them. We’ll need to bring beehives so the seeds can set. Keep clearing more land too. All right, everyone, let’s harvest!”
Once the buff on the crops ended, the entire congregation rushed in and began the harvest. I taught them how to dry the radish leaves separately to use in soup, and how to pickle radishes in vinegar. I also showed them how to store potatoes and sweet potatoes by burying them in the ground, along with tasty ways to cook them. Especially impressive was the two-thousand-pyeong barley and wheat field; it yielded thirty eighty-kilogram sacks—enough to feed seventy people comfortably for two or three months. When you factored in the potatoes, sweet potatoes, and other crops, we had enough food to last seven or eight months. Since we had also stockpiled flour in advance, we could hold out until the next planting and harvest cycle.
The sheep and goats we had brought in ate young tree leaves well, and there were plenty of leftover stems and leaves from the harvest, so raising livestock to secure protein seemed stable too.
“So Master is really going alone to that orc battlefield?”
“That’s right. Someone has to guard this dungeon. First, Sezanne will become the representative of the village in front of the dungeon. Pyutel, Pyurie, and Meni will serve as the vigilante force and maintain public order in the village.”
Sezanne knew that mages were the first targets on a battlefield, but she also knew they received the most protection, so she wasn’t overly worried. Yanne, however, threw a fit, insisting she couldn’t let me go alone.
“No matter what you say, isn’t it too dangerous for Master to go by himself? Shouldn’t you at least have shield-bearers?”
“I’m thinking of calling the Chico Mercenary Group since we have a prior connection. If that doesn’t work, I’ll hire other mercenaries. I won’t be standing at the front in an actual war, so there shouldn’t be anything to worry about.”
“…Understood.”
“I’m more worried about the village and the dungeon. If any problems arise, discuss them with Sezanne and Harhil and resolve them together.”
“Yes. We will protect this precious sanctuary of ours.”
With a mage, a summoner, and even a vampire present, I felt reassured that the place wouldn’t fall easily even if mercenaries attacked. I mounted the white horse Earl, which I had received from Count Verk, and headed for Apport Castle where Count Shulman was staying.
Apport Castle, which I had visited once before, had become even more bustling. There was no sense at all that its owner had changed because of a war.
“Come in. Wait just a moment.”
Baron Mitchel was organizing documents and looked even busier than last time.
“It’s a golden age. It feels like more than just luck—like the gods themselves are watching over us these days.”
“Did you repel the counterattack from the Redecup Kingdom?”
“No, there wasn’t a proper counterattack. After we succeeded in our surprise occupation, Redecup gathered troops to strike back, but fortunately a messenger from the Splain Empire arrived announcing the Alliance coalition.”
The arrival of the messenger announcing the coalition and the lack of a counterattack didn’t immediately connect in my mind.
“The unspoken rule is that when there’s a fight against monsters, humans must stop fighting among themselves. It isn’t strictly enforced, but when the churches recall the priests who came out to provide healing, the Redecup Kingdom can’t even attempt a counterattack.”
“If they counterattacked while humans are fighting monsters, they’d be condemned as dishonorable.”
“Exactly. However, we can’t trust that unspoken rule and send our elite soldiers to the Akran Mountains. We have to strengthen our defenses even more.”
“So that’s why you called me.”
“Hahaha. Correct. We’re dispatching those who recently received titles and those who were in the rear to the Alliance coalition. You can join the army our Shuzel Kingdom is sending.”
“But I don’t have any soldiers. The few mercenaries I had are staying behind to maintain order in the village in front of the dungeon.”
“Take the mercenaries under your command. News of Redecup’s failed counterattack and our defense has spread, so many mercenaries have gathered in the area. Once you recruit them, go see Baron Cortner. For now, serve as a mage under Count Shulman’s forces in his command.”
“Understood. I’ll do that.”
When I went to the Mercenary Guild to recruit, the place was overflowing with mercenaries. They had all swarmed in hoping to profit from the war boom. I showed my mercenary tag and asked about hiring rates. For a war like this, they said twenty gold for three months was standard for anyone B-rank or below. Additional pay would be given according to combat and achievements, but three months for roughly eight million won felt cheap for sword fodder.
I wanted to see the list of available mercenaries, but with so many flooding in, such administrative support was nearly impossible. Leaving a request on the bulletin board felt awkward too, since I knew most mercenaries couldn’t read. So I submitted a formal request to the guild asking them to post a hiring notice for the Chico Mercenary Group, then looked around. I spotted a suitable drinking table.
“You guys finished all your beer?”
“What the hell? Who asks if we’ve finished our beer or not? We’re not giving up this table, so beat it.”
With so many mercenaries around, the ones holding tables had zero intention of vacating their seats.
“If you’ve finished your beer, I was going to buy you more.”
“Huh? You want to join our party or something?”
“No. I’ll buy each of you a glass if you just let me stand on the table and shout for a minute. Hey! Bring six beers and some snacks over here!”
I tossed five silver coins at the mercenaries as payment for the drinks and climbed onto the table.
“I’m the mage joining the Alliance coalition heading to the Akran Mountains! I need mercenaries for escort duty. Race and rank don’t matter. I’ll pay twenty-two gold coins for three months. Combat bonuses are guaranteed, and I’ll provide room, board, and weapons! Anyone interested, come to me!”
My loud shout inside the noisy guild drew everyone’s attention. Several people started moving toward me.
“Combat bonus, heh… plus twenty-two gold for three months… not bad, right? Heh… what do you think?”
The one speaking in that peculiar tone had a sharp mouth. When his face emerged from the shadows, I saw it wasn’t a mouth but a beak. He was a birdman covered head to toe in feathers.
“Room, board, and weapons provided? That’s a good offer. Especially since he doesn’t care about race or rank.”
The one who answered the birdman was covered in brown fur. His yellow eyes with vertical pupils marked him as a catman. The two of them, deciding the terms weren’t bad, moved toward the mage who had stepped down from the table.
As the two beastmen approached me, five mercenaries wearing black helmets also walked over. The mercenaries still seated at their tables started running their mouths.
“Aren’t those the Cowardly Brothers?”
“Yeah. Since they don’t have to stand in the front line, they’re volunteering to escort a mage?”
“Looks like it. Cowards and idiots.”
“Right. Don’t they know that escorting a mage means taking every attack aimed at them with your own body, so the death rate is higher?”
“They said they’d only look for safe spots so their little brothers wouldn’t die. They probably have no experience escorting mages. That’s why they’re going.”
The voices weren’t quiet, so the black-helmeted mercenaries walking toward me heard them and bristled. But none of the five showed their anger outwardly.
“We are the D-rank mercenary band ‘Brothers of Gaosan.’ We wish to serve as Your Excellency the Mage’s escort in the Alliance coalition war.”