How to Survive as a Player Chapter 212

#212

“Brother, be sure to come visit our empire later.”

With those words as the beginning, Sehyun talked a lot with Lee Jaeyoung. From the story that on the first day he went to the Empire, a group of monsters rushed at him and he was almost buried in them, to the anecdote that while building a walking trail with the intention of taking Se-hyeon for a walk, it collapsed after monsters invaded it several times.

The chattering voice stayed in the sound of rain for a long time.

“Uh, there are animal-type monsters like me, bug-type monsters, and human-type monsters. You have Zenka, right? Zenka is a humanoid. The humanoid monsters are still quite smart, so they figure out what to do on their own. The other kids are just like puppies. I work when asked, but I prefer playing. “When I pass by, I hear that they are always playing in muddy water, getting muddy.”

Then I got scolded by Zenka a lot. Jaeyoung Lee spoke with a sigh, perhaps remembering what happened back then. Still, the sparkling eyes were full of life. I could feel that they loved them, and I could see that they cared for them.

“If Jaeyoung enters the tower, who will rule the empire in the meantime?”

“There are several humanoid monsters that Zenka worked hard to raise. They are a bit of a workaholic, so they really like working. They’ll be taking care of it while Jenka and I are away. “The kids are smarter than me.”

I couldn’t bear to ask if I was going alone. Jaeyoung Lee seemed to have already made a decision. Shaking Lee Jae-young here was tantamount to deceiving him.

The conversation continued for a long time after that. The little monster, tired of listening, curled up in Lee Jae-young’s arms and slept, and Lee Jae-young kept telling her story all night, to the point where she could faintly hear the clear sound of rain.

And when Lee Jae-young’s image became blurred through his blurred vision, a warm blanket was placed on Se-hyeon’s shoulders. Even the hand that hesitantly moves her hair.

That was my last memory of seeing Jaeyoung Lee. When she suddenly opened her eyes, the seat next to her was empty. Only a cold aura took its place.

Even though it was a dark dawn and the day was not yet bright, Jaeyoung Lee disappeared, leaving behind only the sound of rain.

No, there was one more thing Jaeyoung Lee left behind. The small monster in the area where I turned my gaze was painfully visible.

The monster was sitting quietly in front of the door. Like a puppy that heard ‘wait’, the monster was just sitting there staring at the door without blinking, waiting impatiently for its owner to go out.

I couldn’t even guess how long it had been like that.

As Sehyeon stood up, something crunched in his hands. When he opened his hand and looked down, there was a small note inside it. Only four letters are clearly visible.

[I will be back.]

Looking back, it was like that. I received a lot, but why is what Sehyun gave me so small? When Sehyeon had no strength like now, he couldn’t stop the feeling of helplessness that was rising.

Sehyun got up and approached the small monster. Jaeyoung Lee will come back, even if only for the sake of a small monster. He will definitely come back, if only to let you know that he has not been abandoned.

“Until then… “Stay with me.”

When I put my hand under the monster’s stomach and lifted it up, the monster began to scream and struggle wildly, wondering what was so sad about it. In the process, Sehyun had to be bitten on her fingers and the back of her hand to the point where it bled.

Squeak!

“… “You were not abandoned.”

As soon as he heard those words, the monster shed tears like chicken droppings. The gaze was still directed towards the tightly closed door. Sehyeon took the monster and headed back to bed.

When Lee Jae-young was dropped off at the spot where he was lying, the monster started spinning around and sniffing frantically. Then he lay down in the place where his body odor was strongest, curled his body into a ball, and fell asleep, whimpering.

Sehyeon also lay down next to him and looked at the door from afar.

The bag that had been sitting in front of the door until I went to bed was now gone. It was fortunate.

It was a bag that Jaeyoung Lee had prepared when he was washing up, just in case something like this happened. The bag contained potions and protective artifacts, as well as combat rations and weapons to eat when times were difficult. These were the minimum conditions that Sehyun could provide.

The rain was falling steadily and showed no signs of stopping yet. Sehyun looked at the door with the brush marks reflected in the window and gradually closed her eyes.

One month ahead. It was time to say goodbye to Lee Jae-young until he came back.

It was a long time later that I fell into a deep sleep that I don’t know when.

***

It’s been a few days since Jaeyoung Lee entered the tower. What Sehyeon had done so far was to meet with the new empires that had entered the Choun Alliance, sign dependency contracts with them, and hear from Agatha about the progress of what had happened so far.

While Sehyeon and Fan were away, Agasa accomplished many things and led the alliance into one. As of today, there are a total of 219 empires that have joined the Chowun Alliance. Sehyeon, including the Celestial Race Federation, numbered approximately 400 countries.

Of the three achievements, only Sehyun achieved two.

[Strike the Tower of Tests. (90/100)]

[Building an imperial alliance. (424/100)]

[Raising a U-grade vassal. (1/1)]

Here, Sehyeon was caught up in one question. What happens if you complete the 100th floor of the Tower of Trials without achieving the achievement?

In this state, it would take less than a year to reach the 100th floor of the tower. The probability of the entire empire achieving achievements during that time was, at best, close to zero. For example, Sehyeon is currently the only one who has achieved the achievement of training a U-level vassal.

If this achievement is simply a gimmick to encourage growth, it doesn’t matter, but if it’s an achievement to gain some ‘qualification’, it’s a different story. Especially if that qualification is something like a condition for fighting monsters.

What Sehyun needed to find out from now on was about that achievement. At least, that was the case until he heard something from Fan.

“what… “Did you say that?”

“Wasn’t this a fact you already knew?”

“What did you say?”

Sehyun frowned and asked again, just as she was holding the teacup. For a moment, words that I thought I had misheard came out of Fan’s mouth again.

“I said that Baek Do-hyeon is in control of Tyra, the White Cloth Empire.”

My egg. It was said that the two were meeting each other secretly. From the time Lee Jae-young entered the tower until now, Baek Do-hyun has been living in seclusion, choosing to live an isolated life. Not only was it refusing all contact from the outside, but the tower wasn’t even running, so there were even calls between the Protectorate Empire and the Iron Palace Empire to sarcastically ask if it was deathly ill.

However, Fan was saying that Baek Do-hyeon was currently meeting Tyra of the White Clothed Empire, with whom contact was prohibited.

“… Do you know how many times that has happened?”

“I have been reported four times. “It might be more than that.”

“Which empire is watching over the White Empire?”

“Currently, the Cavalry Empire and the Magic Empire are taking turns in charge. However, my information is only exchanged when a specific empire is in charge of surveillance.”

“Are you Agatha?”

At Sehyeon’s words, Fan immediately nodded. Sehyeon let out a tired sigh. It was known early on that Agatha was turning a blind eye to some of Tyra’s actions for the sake of the Grand Duke’s dream. But he had no idea that this would also apply to this situation where Tyra’s sins were considered.

At that level, there could even be suspicions that he was in cahoots with the White Coat Empire.

“The Cavalry Empire will be removed from the surveillance area.”

“I’ll try putting the flue in the Shadow Empire.”

“I don’t even trust Mr. Li Jeong. “Let’s go to Mr. Numan for sure.”

Lord Numan of the Heavenly Ancient Empire. Looking at the established figure shown at the alliance meeting, it seemed that only Numan could take Agatha’s place.

At Sehyeon’s words, Fan nodded without saying anything. However, immediately after, he rested his chin and gave him a cool look.

“What do you plan to do, Baek Do-hyeon?”

“I will take charge. “First of all, we need to know why it happened.”

“You really don’t know? Or are you just pretending not to know?”

“What are you talking about?”

“I think I know why Baek Do-hyeon contacted the White Cloth Empire.”

Sehyun couldn’t read the smile that formed under his sharp gaze. I was able to find out what happened to Baek Do-hyeon inside the tower through the mirror that Bill Will showed me.

He said he worked very hard to telepathize the wizards. And the whole time I was fighting monsters, I was fighting against my limits. That was all Sehyun knew.

Immediately after leaving the tower, I had never met Baek Do-hyun separately, so I couldn’t know his thoughts, but I could tell without saying that everyone was of one mind at the time.

But why?

“Usually, the more we are together, the more colored glasses we see.”

“… “Are you saying it’s my fault?”

“It’s not exactly your fault.”

Did I make such a big mistake that I didn’t even hear from you, or that I left behind the time we spent together? I don’t know. At least the Baek Do-hyeon that Se-hyeon knew was not the kind of person who left his colleagues behind to pursue his own interests.

At least… . No, can we really say that we know everything about Baek Do-hyun?

It may seem like a long time, but the time I spent with him was at most six months. She tied the anecdotes of her experience at Elix with the word trust, but that may have been Se-hyun’s own opinion. Is it possible to understand and grasp someone who has lived their whole life in a different life in just six months?

“You wouldn’t know because you didn’t really see Baek Do-hyeon at the time. If I had seen his expression right before breaking the tower, I would have thought a little differently. No, you may have understood his current whereabouts.”

Just before breaking the tower, it was when Sehyeon was facing Nelus. Se-hyeon pulled out from his memory what Baek Do-hyun’s expression looked like moment by moment.

However, no matter how much I tried to think about it, all I could remember was an expression distorted in pain.