#10
The two of them were still perfect human beings. As a result of checking today, all of the village residents had completed awakening and appeared as members of their own species. It seemed like everyone here was a beginner, fortunately no one lost their ‘Easy’.
The current Ellix is somewhat different from the Elix that was used during beta testing. That was the case with or without the Archduke.
The current road players were not given the Grand Duke. Originally, it was common to be given a grand duke even before the village was founded, but after falling here, the only person who was granted a grand duke was the village chief Kim Gap-jun.
Of course, anyone with an existing empire already had an archduke, so it was right for it not to be created. The same was true in Sehyun’s case. Other than that, there are people like Kim Gap-jun who were defeated and have no empire. Those people should have been granted an anti-air from the beginning, but currently, not all of them have an anti-air.
If awakening was the issue, there was no way to explain Kwak Jeong-han. This was because before the village was founded, Kwak Jeong-han had already awakened. However, he did not become a grand duke.
Kim Gap-Jun was given the title Grand Duke when the village was founded and he rose to the position of village chief. This meant that the current operating method was different from that during the beta test.
In other words, here, the Grand Duke is only given to the Lord Player who founded the village as the ‘King’. It was not yet known whether this was before or after awakening, but it was undeniable that the scope of players’ activities had expanded. It was clear that this would act as a double-edged sword.
Maseokjo tomorrow. Depending on their fate, the atmosphere of the village will change from tomorrow.
As expected, the first thing that would come was confusion. Village chief Kim Gap-jun would know this, and Lee Jae-young, who had just awakened, would also have been aware of this.
Sehyun took a long, slow breath and quietly closed her eyes. The day must have been tough, and she fell asleep earlier than expected.
It was my third night since falling into Elix.
***
When the king founded a village, all the residents who came into existence were named vassals in Elix.
It was unknown where the vassals were coming from. All I remembered was that it came through a place called the ‘Dimension Gate’. I never had any doubts, but after actually experiencing it, I had some idea.
When the village was first founded, the number of vassals given was only five. With those five players, the player had to operate frugally by building and growing a village, collecting materials, etc.
As the village developed and became able to accommodate more people through processing materials and magic stones, the capacity of vassals increased. And when the player chooses to hire a vassal, a number of vassals come out of the dimension gate again.
Lord players, or kings, were able to raise the ranks of their vassals by nurturing those they judged to be talented. To the extent that Billwill’s words that the weakest are humans are understandable, most of Elix’s numerous races are born with fighting abilities.
The grade is based on LV.1, with most residents starting at grade D and gradually moving up. However, it was different for each vassal, and it was not easy to grow them because their talents, motivation, and will were different.
Therefore, even if the race itself was born with a fighting world, there was a big difference in performance depending on talent and personality, and reliability also rose differently. When I ordered something I didn’t like, I even received threats of assassination.
Therefore, the higher the rank, the more important it was to judge the personality and tendencies of the vassals. It was only up to the king himself to figure out its nature. This is why Elix was difficult. Identifying and nurturing the vassal’s tastes, personality, and talents.
The reason why you had to raise the level of your vassals and raise them appropriately was because you had to climb the most important ‘tower’ in the village.
The village’s livelihood was at stake. However, the tower was full of all kinds of monsters and dangerous situations, so it was impossible to attack it unless you were a skilled combatant. Therefore, the king had to be careful in selecting, organizing, and deploying his vassals.
And Kim Gap-jun also knew this very well. So he would have organized Group 1 with only the strongest fighting factions. Also, he probably knew better than anyone else that sacrifices would be made.
They didn’t really know each other and their own capabilities, and they had no training. The situation may have been even more dire since we had never put our hands and feet together before. Either that, or I couldn’t do anything out of fear.
Tragically, among the magic stone crew that went to the tower in the morning to retrieve magic stones, only one came back alive.
As expected, the village was immersed in grief, gloom, and confusion. Until yesterday, everyone seemed motivated to live in an environment they were gradually becoming accustomed to, but that was not the case in today’s village.
There were many people who skipped dinner. Among them, there were people who went to the village chief and cried and cried and begged to be taken out of Maseokjo.
“… Was it something like this?”
Hearing Kwak Jeong-han’s hard voice, Se-hyeon nodded while eating the thin vinegar-flavored porridge. Perhaps realizing the seriousness of the situation, Lee Jae-young also ate porridge today without saying anything. This was because we could hear sobbing coming from all over the place.
“Mr. Sehyun… Did you know? “Those people are going to die?”
“I knew it would be difficult to come back safely.”
“Then why didn’t you stop me? Enough to stop it… .”
“If you stop me.”
Sehyun said as she put down her empty bowl. I could feel Baek Do-hyun and Lee Jae-young’s gaze. Fortunately, everyone here was calmer than other people.
“Stopping those people won’t make them stop going. If I had stopped those people, I would have been the one who didn’t come back today. I think you forgot, Mr. Kwak Jeong-han. “I am also a magician.”
“… … .”
“And the magic stone team and the strategy team are very important. It’s something you can’t stop or do nothing about. “This is the D-class magic stone that the survivor found today. Even though it looks like that, it is a more important material than the price of ten lives.”
Kwak Jeong-han’s head bowed. Se-hyeon, who was about to say something more, soon sighed and looked at Kim Gap-jun, who was walking out into the square with a solemn expression. Looking at his determined expression, it seemed like he had finally decided on the use of the magic stone.
“Just take a look. You will understand when you see it. “Why did I have no choice but to make sacrifices?”
When I got up from my seat, Lee Jae-young, who was sitting next to me, also drank the porridge and got up hurriedly.
I hate to admit it, but Kim Gap-jun was a very intelligent person. He had some common sense in running the village, and he knew how to run the village effectively to develop it. This is why he cannot ignore experience.
So I decided to trust it this time too. I hope he made the right choice.
[The building is expanded using grade D magic stones. A magical energy begins to flow.]
[The Training Center (LV.1), Weapon Refinery (LV.1), and Ability Development Center (LV.1) have been expanded.]
What Kim Gap-Jun chose was a hero training facility that trained vassals who were essential for conquering the tower.
The eyes of the residents who were watching with bated breath gradually widened. The buildings that were being expanded and bathed in blue light only revealed themselves after they were erected on one side of the village. These were buildings made of solid stone.
“Starting tomorrow, everyone will go to the ability development center and train for three hours a day. Don’t come to me and tell me nonsense, but if you want to live, develop the strength to survive! Tomorrow, everyone who grabs my pants will be assigned to the Demon Stone Team, so you know that!”
Kim Gap-Jun was also the same, with his eyes sunken. He turned around with a sullen look and headed back to his house. A weak-hearted person cannot be king.
If Kwak Jeong-han became the village chief… . Sehyun shook her head and came out of her thoughts.
“I think you can get a feel for the training camp and weapons refinery… I will only explain the competency development center. “This is a place where you can strengthen the skills you have acquired or engage in simulation battles to gain good skills.”
“… “Is this the village chief’s choice?”
I knew the anger in Kwak Jeong-han’s voice. In his eyes, they will only be seen as a way to drive people to their deaths. Also, all the residents in his eyes will be weak and weak-hearted people.
“Mr. Kwak Jeong-han. “I don’t know anything else, but I’ll just say one thing.”
“Sehyun, do you think this is the right thing to do? Like that village chief?”
“If Kwak Jeong-han had become the village chief instead of Kim Gap-jun, we probably wouldn’t have lasted more than a week.”
“… What does it mean?”
“This is the right choice.”
The answer came from somewhere else. Baek Do-hyeon. With his sword on his shoulder, he looked at the training camp and took Sehyun’s side.
“Because your head is full of flowers, you are blinded by things like justice. “If you had thought at all about how the village can be safe in this foggy forest and why the beasts don’t touch the village, you wouldn’t have whined about your sense of justice.”
“Yes, you little fish! “If you don’t even know, why are you talking shit to my brother?”
Kwak Jeong-han’s eyebrows twitched. The atmosphere suddenly became cold, and a suffocating air filled the air.
“It’s a sense of justice… I admit there are a lot of things I don’t know. Baek Do-hyun, have you ever told me anything? “Let’s throw something and say something like that.”
“why me? “If you’re a natural, shouldn’t you be able to find these things and pick them up on your own?”
It was like this was going to be a big fight. I wasn’t worried about the two, but I was worried about Jaeyoung Lee, who was looking at me with her eyes wide open in front of me.
Sehyun sighed and hid Lee Jaeyoung behind her. And he stopped the men who were growling at each other.
