#4
[Hmm, that’s a good question. Of course, it’s not entirely non-existent. All the king needs to do is ‘surrender’ to another village or empire. There are many more conditions, but I don’t have enough time to explain them all. What is clear is that if you surrender and are absorbed into the opposing empire, the surrendered empire will collapse regardless of whether there is a king or not. Hmm, looking at your expression, I guess you don’t understand. It would be better to experience it yourself.]
If the player surrenders to another empire, that empire becomes a defeated country and is absorbed into the opposing empire. At this time, the royal status was taken away and it was equally absorbed into the other empire. Not as a king, but as a citizen of the empire.
As a result, it becomes possible to give up the empire.
“then… How should someone who doesn’t want to build an empire survive? .”
[There are also ways to become a ‘resident’ or ‘temporary resident’ of another empire. It is good for a king to leave room to visit his empire at any time. If you have an existing empire, please do not forget that you must become a ‘temporary resident’ to maintain your empire. Since we don’t have time, I’ll just ask one more question.]
Bill Will took out a pocket watch from his pocket and spoke. Everyone became impatient and started talking gibberish as the attitude conveyed the message that there was not much time. And at that moment, the man who was standing still holding the document like his life raised his hand.
The man was different from the scared people around him. Judging from her frown, it seemed like she didn’t like the current situation, but there was just one thing. There was no fear. She calmly observed the current situation and responded with surprising coolness. Like right now.
“What happens if I don’t awaken?”
The crowd that had been agitated by his words became cold. Most people understood what he was talking about. This was the most important question, and one that everyone was complacent about.
[Hmm, I guess he lost his ‘Easy’ because he died a lot. I understand. In that case, there is no need for racial awakening. However, you will be restricted in many areas. The human body is weaker than we think, so we will be more vulnerable to survival… Well, this is also a benefit to self-employment. If you are still not sure, you can hold off for a certain period of time. Oh, I forgot to add Hold in the selection window.]
The one-eyed man let out an exclamation with exaggerated gestures. As if to show off.
[Let’s see… As for the holding period, hmmm, here it is. It says exactly ten days. I almost passed by.]
As Billwill waved his hand in the air, a third question appeared in the awakening window. It was a ‘hold’. It was a clever question and answer that I would have missed if I hadn’t asked.
“If you lose your wit… .”
[Question is over. This is all I can help you with. You become a road player from the moment you leave here. I wish all players good luck. Oh, and if you don’t have an empire or are afraid to go to the empire, please use the portal over there. I hope for a new beginning.]
When Billwill snapped his fingers, dozens of portals were created on top of each other among the densely packed portals. Compared to other dazzling portals, it was a bluish and small oval-shaped portal. They were all empty portals without an owner.
[If you want to stay here, you can. However, the longer you are exposed to the dimensional gap, the more difficult it becomes to escape from it. In that case, you will become nothing and will never be able to breathe outside air again, so please make the right decision.]
He seemed polite until the end. Spouting her scary words without any hesitation, Billwill flew into the sky far out of her sight. And from above, she quietly observed the crowd of people buzzing around like a swarm of ants.
Before long, people began to stand up and find their own way. There are people who look for their own portal in an anxious manner and people who try to build an empire by gathering people who have nowhere to go. Among them, there were people sitting in a dazed state and not moving at all.
Sehyeon also stood up amidst the commotion moving here and there. In her arms was Lee Jae-young, curled up and trembling in fear.
“… “Do you have somewhere to go?”
Jaeyoung Lee shook his head in fear. Sehyun’s eyes landed on an unknown place. Unlike the others, this portal glows red. The reason people can find and enter their empire among the hundreds of millions of portals is probably because there is a portal that only appears red to the naked eye.
“What about you, brother?”
“… “I don’t have one either.”
Sehyeon took his gaze away from the red portal. And together with Lee Jae-young, I delved into a group of middle-aged people with nowhere to go.
Among the crowd of people was a man holding documents. The herd was divided into dozens of groups. The group that included the man holding the documents, Se-hyeon, and Jae-young Lee were Koreans.
The man standing solemnly at the front of the line walked toward the place where the foggy forest was visible among the unclaimed portals created by Bilwill. She probably decided that was the safest place. Sehyun and Jaeyoung Lee also walked along with the moving group.
Finally, as a dazzling light pierced their vision, Sehyeon’s group disappeared in the empty space.
At the same time as the intense light of the portal, which had been shouting as if hungry, disappeared, a faint human shape appeared inside the portal.
[There are still quite a few this time.]
As Billwill was assessing the number of portals that had found their owners and regained stability, several portals that were burning black and then losing their light came into view.
These were empires that fell at the cost of death. Billwill just looked at that with a dull gaze. The moment his eyes slowly closed, a bitter feeling passed over his face.
***
What Sehyeon learned while staying at Elix for a few days was that humans are animals that adapt quickly. On the first day, everyone had trouble sleeping and was trembling with anxiety over the uncertain future, but as soon as the next morning came, people one by one faced reality and showed their will to live.
Among them, the man named ‘Kwak Jeong-han’, who commanded everyone in the vanguard, was by far the best. He judged the current situation more calmly than anyone else and led people decisively. Gathering a hundred people together as soon as dawn the next day was an act of judgment.
“My name is Kwak Jeong-han. Although it is not enough, I have gathered the courage to come to the front like this in order to gather everyone’s will to deal with the current situation. “It may be painful and difficult for everyone, but I ask for your cooperation, one by one, so that we can put aside our anxious thoughts and work together to overcome the current situation.”
Kwak Jeong-han was a tall man with a muscular body. At first glance, he appeared to be in his early 30s, but since he had awakened, it was difficult to determine his exact age. The light blue skin and shark fin protruding from his back told us that he had the characteristics of a fishman.
The man with cool facial features was a very famous person who all Koreans knew. National team swimmer. Korea’s proud Geon-ah swept the world championships with his unprecedented swimming genius.
Kwak Jeong-han was that kind of person.
A case where talent influenced awakening. As he played in the water, his talent was revealed as a ‘fishman’.
“Unfortunately, I have never played a game called Elix. I logged in after completing the aptitude test, but I left my position before the founding of the empire and was killed by the Archduke. I left it like that and never logged in again. Therefore, we would like to prepare measures and plans for the future based on the opinions of those with experience.”
People took Kwak Jeong-han’s words with a serious expression. But among them, a middle-aged man with half a bald head pushed past the people and walked forward. Deja vu. Everyone thought so, but no one said it out loud.
“Hey, student.”
“Yes, please say it.”
“After listening to this, they tell adults to do this and that even though they have no experience. So, are you saying that the current student will become the king of this place?”
“If everyone considers it, I think it will be enough.”
“Okay, this kind of work should be done by seniors and experienced people, so let’s leave out the students. “A guy with no blood on his head is being rude to an adult.”
“So you’re saying you have experience?”
“Elder? Ha, really… . Student, I’m still 45 years old. Where is the old man walking? And it’s an experience and a naive thing, let’s leave out the students. “It’s a matter for adults to take care of, and it will be resolved through discussion among people who can communicate well.”
Huo Jeonghan looked at the middle-aged man for a moment, but then nodded and stepped back. There were whispers here and there, but no one could support Kwak Jeong-han again. This was because a middle-aged man stood in the place where Kwak Jeong-han had been standing, looking energetic.
“Looking at it, it looks like none of them have any experience with the game. If there is someone who has been playing longer than me, please come out and see us. Anyone who says I raised the empire to level 5, please raise your hand.”
