Chapter 112

All buildings located in the southeastern part of Iron Castle were demolished to create a wide-open space. The mythical castle itself was enormous with numerous houses, and since all castles and structures within the Human Empire belonged to the state, there wasn’t much difficulty in demolishing them.

A newly created vacant lot measuring 500 meters by 500 meters. And right at its center:

Grrrumble…

Cr-creak…

“I-it’s coming!”

“Hold onto something so you don’t fall over!”

Crash!

A massive head emerged from the ground.

“H-huge! It’s truly colossal!”

“Such a creature exists…”

The landworm’s head broke through the surface. Despite only revealing its head, it towered overwhelmingly higher than the surrounding buildings.

“How deep have you dug?”

At my question, the landworm bowed its head. The wind blew just from this movement alone.

[U-Um… From head to chest?]

“Where is the chest?”

[Hrmm. Four and a half heads?]

“Okay. Just go straight down for double that depth. Twist your body once every one head distance. Hey! Move slower! If there are cracks on the floor, I’ll start over!”

[Haa… Are you using me like this just because I ate something… It’s my bedtime now.]

“Don’t talk nonsense… More! More! More!”

Using the power of the biological excavator known as the landworm, we created a vertical tunnel 100 meters deep. Needless to say, it was for ventilation purposes, not transportation.

I need to cast some magic later to force air circulation through this tunnel… Hmm. I bet there’s no such spell in Ardenia, huh? Guess I’ll have to visit Earth.

Next to it was another diagonal tunnel at roughly a twenty-degree angle.

“Good enough. This should be manageable.”

Ideally, he would’ve preferred stairs, but despite landworms possessing earth attribute magic, their precision wasn’t sufficient for that level of detail. To them, a human stride might as well be thinner than a strand of hair.

“Wh-whoa. That’s truly incredible.” Haze, fully recovered now, marveled at the sight before him, which could only be described as a pit or vertical shaft.

Krrrk!

Krrrkkk!

In the distance, they heard rocks crumbling. It was the sound of the landworm excavating the third underground floor.

“It’s fast, isn’t it?”

“More than just fast. If humans attempted this work manually, it would’ve taken over ten years.”

While Haze marveled at the sight, Flower emerged from afar, pushing aside workers along her way. Her impressive business attire with a tight-fitting H-line skirt made her stand out among the medieval laborers.

She used to wear maid uniforms all the time, but now she’s switched to suits.

Compared to chainmail and leather armor, clothes found in dungeons were more diverse and modern-looking.

Recently, Revenge had become less game-like with no avatar customization available, resulting in everyone wearing similar cloth garments.

‘I think it’s about time they add avatars.’

Until now, avatars haven’t been important. Since hunting was automated throughout gameplay, it didn’t matter what character appearance someone chose. However, Revenge is now fully immersive virtual reality at depth level 1. The introduction of avatars seems inevitable.

‘Of course, that will only happen if the game doesn’t go bankrupt.’

As I pondered this, Flower approached me and reported:

“We received word from Wild Boar Castle. They’ve completed all tasks as assigned.”

“Perfect timing. Follow me.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.” I led Flower and Haze down the steep tunnel. Unlike Flower walking upright beside me, Haze bounced around like a puppy, marveling at the outer walls that were almost as strong as steel.

“You said you were making underground paths?”

“Yes. If they are flat, it will greatly assist transportation.”

The veins could be described as straight lines on a Go board. However, this was only when viewed from above. Veins generally consisted of mountains or rivers, with mountains being ridgelines. They weren’t straight lines. It meant traveling over hills for a distance of 100 km.

“Moreover, there won’t be any attacks along the way.”

It was also possible to prevent attacks from monsters lurking along the vein. How could they attack when we were moving 100 meters underground?

Kugungong!

At that moment, a huge head emerged at the end of the slope.

“It’s all done.”

“Good. Shall we go for a walk now?”

“A walk?” Haze grumbled but lowered her head nonetheless.

“Wait.”

“Huh?”

Caught off guard, I swiftly picked up Flower and leaped forward, with Haze following closely behind.

Gggguk.

The largest scale in the center of the landworm’s forehead opened, allowing us to enter before promptly closing as if it had been waiting for us.

Inside, Haze appeared bewildered.

“No…what is this? Why is it so spacious?”

Flower seemed equally surprised, looking around in confusion.

“Your Majesty, this place looks exactly like…”

“Yes. It’s just like a bus.”

Both women nodded, understanding the analogy as buses were already operating in Iron Castle.

Indeed, there was a spacious area at the center of the landworm’s forehead, capable of accommodating over 100 people. Above us, an unidentified organ glowed like a lightbulb. The floor featured forty comfortable seats with soft backrests. Most notably,

Zzzz.

As the landworm began to move, the central scale measuring three meters wide and seven meters tall turned transparent. This allowed us to clearly see the scenery outside while seated comfortably.

“This… what?”

“Unbelievable. Why does this living creature have such a body part? Why is this structure needed?”

It was truly impossible but the landworm replied calmly:

[I don’t know either. It has been there since I was young.]

“No way.”

“It can’t be.”

Leaving behind the two confused women, I sat down in the most magnificent seat.

‘Why does it have this body structure?’

There was no need to worry about this issue.

‘Well, of course. It’s for boarding pets.’

Unlike the mythical pet Shooting Star Dragon that I saw before, the landworm didn’t provide me with a Luck +500 buff. However, instead…

The landworm had the largest capacity among all pets in Revenge for both its boarding space and auxiliary inventory slots, which exceeded 100 spaces.

[Which direction?]

“Left. Ah, more, more… Yes, good. Just go straight ahead.”

I directed based on the minimap. Our destination was the Wild Boar Castle to the north.

Kukwakwa-chaeng!

The landworm ran at an incredible speed, drilling through the earth at a depth of 100 meters in real-time. It exceeded 100 km/hour. Flower, standing firmly beside me, turned pale and grabbed my shoulder. I chuckled, then had her sit down next to me on the left side. The front seat where we were located was large and luxurious, providing ample space.

“Eek.”

“Why did you sit here again?”

“It’s spacious, that’s all.”

“Haze-ssi. Your Majesty…”

“Ahh, it’s okay. We still maintain etiquette this way.”

”…Yes, Your Majesty.”

With two beauties by my sides, I looked forward.

A massive amount of dirt, rocks and sand were swept aside like curtains without touching the landworm’s body at all.

‘It is moving over 100 kilometers per hour…’

The earth attribute power was incredibly fierce. Perhaps the landworm’s greatest weapon wasn’t its size but its attribute strength.

“Amazing…”

“Yes…”

Both women watched mesmerized as the ground was pushed away. Occasionally, they encountered groundwater, but the landworm knew it would need to use the path again later. Using its powerful attribute strength, it pulled up the earth to block the groundwater completely.

“The areas where groundwater passes will be marked with white walls. If you need them later, you can utilize them. You might even be able to extract water by drilling holes.”

I was surprised by the landworm’s words. It showed unexpected meticulousness.

“Wow… you guy.”

[What?]

“I’m a bit touched?”

In response to my words, the landworm increased its speed without replying.

Haze laughed from her seat on my right side. “Once again…the world will change. I really don’t know how many more surprises there will be.”

“Well, now we’ve experienced most of them.”

With my payments reaching the mythical rank, everything had been done. From now on, it would just involve repeating the same process.

“Huhu. Yes, our Savior.” Haze smiled broadly and hugged my right arm with hers. Her overwhelming mass completely engulfed my right arm.

“A-ah! You are shaking,” Flower suddenly spoke as she embraced my left arm. It was touching to the point of being pitiful.

”…”

Perhaps what was trembling was her heart.

Currently, the Human Empire has occupied 16 points.

‘The Blue Whale County…no, should I call it the Chrome Kingdom now? Well, perhaps it is only 15 points since the Human Empire doesn’t apply there.’

However, they were just living on top of these points and didn’t care about who was the castle lord. Without any Player or guild master, they were simply living in castles that I created. In other words, the size of my completed ‘Home’ corresponded to one-thirty-sixth of the entire Go board.

In Revenge, which followed the format of Go, once four or more points were connected to complete a home, it would be recognized as the territory of the corresponding guild.

‘Originally, I should be able to collect taxes from hunting grounds within this space, receive various event benefits, and gain huge advantages in special raids…’

However, there were no such benefits for me. There were no field monsters in Ardenia. Furthermore, events, quests, or special raids didn’t occur here. If it was a point that couldn’t be defended, then there was no need to take it.

Despite this, I still made my move.

“Good. This is enough.”

I entered my inner world and nodded at the Go board before me. After the total offensive of monsters, I took two spaces adjacent to the Human Empire territory. In other words, I swept away all 20 points.

Attribute monsters and high-level monsters tried to stop me but were insufficient. Now if the monsters wanted to attack the Human Empire with their army, they had to move at least 300 kilometers or more.

‘No matter how quickly the monsters regenerate, this distance can’t be ignored.’

It would be difficult for them to cover such a long distance without being noticed, and it would take too much time.

‘Furthermore, even after traveling so far, there is no way for their base to know why they died when killed.’

In that situation…the landworm created underground tunnels connecting all of the Human Empire’s castles.

‘I thought it would roughly connect important cities.’

I thought the landworm might get bored and ask for food, but surprisingly, it obediently continued digging tunnels. Perhaps this task was easier for it compared to using the ‘Great Destruction’ skill.

‘I guess drilling is just moving through the ground.’

In any case, once we created two empty spaces between castles with underground passages, no further damage occurred. Occasionally, a monster would inadvertently occupy one of these vacant normal-grade castles, but I could swiftly fly over and crush them with my dungeon.

‘Good. Now, the Human Empire’s defense should be secure.’

Even without me present, the safety of the Empire is guaranteed. What does this signify?

“It’s time to monopolize flower shops.”

In fact, more starting points were better. Each starting point acted like an external hard drive, allowing me to store elements. Wasn’t it thanks to these starting points that I could handle the incredible ‘Martial Arts’ element now?

However, flying around and clearing starting points was literally futile.

‘The attack is easy. It’s possible even alone. But…I can’t defend them.’

That was the problem. What good would capturing castles do if I couldn’t protect them? A castle that couldn’t be defended made using it as an external hard drive unreliable. If monsters took over a castle where I had stored elements, not only would those elements be destroyed, but there would also be a rebound effect, rendering my chakra unusable for some time.

Pop!

I opened my eyes, returning from the inner world to reality.

“I need to make a quick trip back to Earth.”

Although I hadn’t planned on going for some time, I required more teleportation scrolls. With humanity isolated and scavenging through abandoned flower shops, encountering them could be beneficial. Considering the Human Empire’s abundance of unlimited food, clothing, and vacant homes, humans themselves became valuable resources to collect.

Additionally, I had depleted my supply of teleportation scrolls, which needed replenishing by completing daily quests.

“Log out.”

With no reason to hesitate, I immediately returned to Earth, despite the potential crisis of Revenge shutting down.

‘Even if it does go bankrupt, it won’t happen overnight.’

As that thought crossed my mind…

Thud.

“Huh?”

Attempting to get up from bed, I collapsed back down.

“What…?”

It was difficult to move my body. I felt like all the strength had drained from me, just as air escapes from a balloon.

‘What is this?’

I hurriedly looked around but couldn’t see anything. There were no people attacking me, no magic arrays or machines. My one-room didn’t look any different than before logging in. Instead, there was only one thing visible:

[-]

“What?”

A single symbol shining red like blood appeared in front of my eyes. I didn’t know what it was.

“Ugh!”

As pain overwhelmed me, I realized its source.

[For an unknown reason, your Strength has decreased by 50 points!]

[For an unknown reason, your Stamina has decreased by 50 points!]

[For an unknown reason, your Health has decreased by 50 points!]

[For unknown reasons, your Stamina has decreased by 50 points!]

[For unknown reasons, your Agility has decreased by 50 points!]

[For unknown reasons…]

“W-What?! What is this?”

All my stats were decreasing in real-time. Initially, it was the additional stats provided by the gatekeepers or collection effects that declined, but once they fell to zero, even my base stats started dropping. The base stats didn’t decrease as quickly as the additional ones, but they still continued to fall.

(-68)

“Minus 68? What does this mean?” I gasped for breath, feeling overwhelmed with impending doom.

‘What happens if Strength reaches 0? If Agility drops to 0… No, more importantly, what if Health reaches 0…?’

Various thoughts raced through my mind, but first and foremost, I needed to assess the situation. I stared at the blood-red numbers before me.

(-6,872,772,300)

“Minus 6 billion, 872 million, 772 thousand and 300… What is this?”

My whole body felt weak. As my health dropped, darkness started to creep at the edges of my vision.

Then at that moment…

The last word was engraved.

(-6,872,772,300 won)

“Won?”

Won? Do you mean ‘won’ as in South Korean currency?

“Guk!” My breath stopped momentarily. The stats had fallen to dangerous levels! I braced myself and shouted out loud.

Normally, my roar should’ve been powerful enough to destroy buildings, but instead, it came out as a feeble whisper.

“Log-in…”

As soon as I returned to Ardenia, it felt like my body was inflating like a balloon.

[For unknown reasons, your Strength has increased by 50 points!]

[For unknown reasons, your Stamina has increased by 50 points!]

[For an unknown reason, your health has increased by 50 points!]

[For an unknown reason, your stamina has increased by 50 points!]

[For an unknown reason, your agility has increased by 50 points!]

[For an unknown reason…]

“Pant…pant…pant…”

“Your Majesty?! Are you okay?” Flower, who was working at one side of the guild master’s room, rushed over with surprise. I raised my hand to calm her down and checked my body condition. My stats quickly recovered, with strength capable of throwing buildings and stamina enveloping my entire body. The pulsating vitality meant that not a single drop of blood would be shed even if shot by a rifle.

“Sigh…” My physical condition completely improved. However, my mind remained complicated.

“Minus… 6.8 billion… won?”