Chapter 19
Chapter 19
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 19
Chapter Title: Labyrinth Pioneering (4)
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Merrillda stared blankly at Elena moving in the distance, unconsciously thinking to herself.
I'm jealous.
She was envious of her.
So incredibly envious.
She was so envious of the woman who had casually claimed a spot by her Lord's side that it felt like she might die from it.
Envious enough that she wanted to kill that woman right here and now—
"..."
Merrillda forcibly suppressed her hand as it tried to rise on its own.
She coldly assessed that killing that woman right now would gain her absolutely nothing.
And if the Lord ever found out about it...
"-"
Merrillda felt a sudden choking sensation, as if her easy breaths were being blocked, and let out a sharp gasp. But she soon shoved the dark thoughts aside and turned her gaze back to Elena.
Gazing at Elena, who had no idea how blessed she was, Merrillda suddenly thought it would be wonderful if she could become that woman.
Of course, objectively speaking, there were far too many differences between Merrillda and Elena.
Differences so vast that comparing them point by point was laughable.
Yet Merrillda still wanted to be that woman.
If she could, Merrillda was certain she could abandon everything she'd built up until now, right here on the spot.
At least to her, the chance to return to her Lord's side...
...The chance to start over by her Lord's side held far greater value than that.
And so, Merrillda stared at Elena with eyes brimming with endless envy—and loathing.
Crunch!
As Elena vanished into one of the rooms before her eyes, Merrillda unconsciously raised her hand once more and ground her teeth.
Grrrr!
But she forcibly lowered her hand again.
As a beastkin, she barely contained the instinctive surge of destructive impulse and fixed her bloodshot gaze on the room in one corner of the Lord's castle that Elena had entered.
A place all too familiar to Merrillda.
A door scarred with multiple nail marks on the handle.
"My... room..."
That was the room Merrillda had once used.
The very first room her Lord had given her.
"Ah..."
Tears welled up unbidden in Merrillda's eyes.
All she had seen was Elena entering the room, but to Merrillda, that simple scene carried profound meaning.
"Uh..."
Tears overflowed from Merrillda's eyes.
She felt as though the place she could return to had vanished.
At the same time, it felt like her Lord was erasing her from existence.
Erasing her... and overwriting her—
"..."
It hurt so much that Merrillda clutched at her chest.
Tears streamed from her hate-filled red eyes.
"Hic... Hic-"
And her gaze remained locked on the door that had once been her room—now Elena's.
...
...Until dawn broke, she couldn't stop her self-loathing and despair.
A week had passed since gifting Elena the two hand axes.
Traits:
Hard Worker: Effort is always maintained at maximum efficiency during training and practice, no matter the task.
Insight: When using a weapon with "Heavenly" or superior talent, attacks have a 50% chance to ignore defense.
Talent:
Heavenly Talent in Hand Axes.
Skills:[View]
※ The hero feels trust toward you.
As Kim Hyunwoo had hoped, Elena was growing at an impressive pace.
'Strength up by 3 and Agility by 4 in just a week.'
Objectively speaking, it wasn't a dramatic increase.
Intuitively, her total stat gain was only 7 points.
However, considering how notoriously difficult it was for stats to rise in this game—practically fixed in many cases—Elena's progress was absurd.
'...The road to 5-star is still far off, though.'
In Arteil, stars rose sequentially as total stats increased.
For 1-star heroes, total stats below 120 qualified them as 1-star. Crossing 120 made them 2-star.
Then 3-star at 200, 4-star at 330, and finally 5-star required exceeding 450 total stats.
With her current total of 103, Elena needed 17 more points to hit 2-star. Once she did, heroes received stat bonuses based on their star rating.
'That's the difference between regular soldiers and heroes.'
In Arteil, even regular soldiers had stats, and among elite soldiers, some outstripped 1-, 2-, or even 3-star heroes in raw numbers.
Yet soldiers couldn't beat heroes because of the exclusive 'hero stat correction' bonus.
Even 1-star heroes got a 10% stat correction.
For example, 20 Agility became 22 with the bonus.
And the higher the stars, the stronger the correction.
'2-star is 20%, 3-star 30%, 4-star 50%, 5-star 70%... right?'
Talents and traits mattered, of course, but stat corrections were absolute for heroes, creating insurmountable gaps.
A 1-star couldn't beat a 2-star; a 2-star rarely bested a 3-star without exceptional talents or traits.
5-stars could bond with their Lord for extra bonuses, pushing correction to 100%.
Max affection even exceeded 100%, which was why Kim Hyunwoo had endured the game's brutal monetization—to keep hero favor high.
Those 5-star corrections were game-changing.
'Though that same monetization made me quit.'
Now inside the game, bonding with heroes was essential, so he paid close attention to Elena.
'But... does affection usually take this long to measure?'
Kim Hyunwoo tilted his head at the still-pending affection, then a curious thought struck him.
'...Come to think of it, what makes someone a hero in this world?'
He'd accepted it as game logic before, but now it nagged at him. He shook his head.
Not the priority right now.
"Loria."
"How's soldier recruitment going?"
"How long?"
"Too long."
"Show me the forge status board."
At Kim Hyunwoo's words, the status board appeared immediately.
Personnel: 13 / 150 Production Efficiency: 23% (Low due to few specialists!)
Production Status:
• Iron Spear / Producing. [Daily: 3] • Helmet / Producing. [Daily: 3] • Light Armor / Producing. [Daily: 2]
"Definitely low."
The forge was operating with a ridiculously small crew, as few refugees had specialized skills like blacksmithing.
"...Ideally, I'd like it at least roughly complete within two weeks."
"Yeah."
Kim Hyunwoo aimed to clear the labyrinth's 1st and 2nd floors once Elena hit 2-star.
And naturally, that required soldiers.
'I could probably send Elena alone...'
Even so, he needed soldiers because of affection.
The labyrinth was unpredictable; sending a hero solo risked dropping affection sharply.
'Can't afford to lower her affection if I want her to grow fast.'
He knew firsthand how powerful affection-based corrections were and wanted to avoid anything that might weaken them.
Besides, there was another reason for bringing soldiers.
"Gotta claim territory too."
Kim Hyunwoo nodded at Loria's question and replied.
"I'm thinking of creating safe zones inside the labyrinth—rest areas, basically."
Kim Hyunwoo grinned at Loria's baffled question.
"Better to sell to everyone than just specific floors, right?"
With that, he stood up abruptly, as if organizing his thoughts.
"I need to head to the forge."
"Gotta boost labor efficiency."
Kim Hyunwoo smiled as he answered Loria's puzzled query.
The Tiinus Merchant Group was a massive caravan traversing the entire continent, selling virtually every item imaginable—with a touch of exaggeration.
Every territory in the southern continent hoped they'd visit.
Their exclusive goods were only available from them, and a single visit noticeably reduced civilian discontent.
All territories welcomed them, but none pressured them.
Not even the Eastern Alliance, the continent's most powerful faction, dared to bully the Tiinus group.
Two reasons.
First, ruining relations hurt the territory, never the merchants.
Second, the guardians that appeared if you messed with them.
Thanks to that, the Tiinus group roamed freely without soldiers.
And their leader—the red-haired girl known as the Witch of Gold Coins.
"Lartania territory? You mean that ruined wasteland in the Kalan Kingdom, right?"
"Yes."
"Hmm, Lartania's come back to life, eh—"
Adria, the woman called the Witch of Gold Coins in the southern continent, listened to her assistant.
"Shall we pay it a visit?"
"I'll prepare immediately if you say the word."
"Yeah, let's go. Won't be much, but..."
She murmured, flashing her signature calculating smile.
"He might want something from us."