Chapter 18

Hundred’s face hardened like stone at my casual remark amidst his confusion. I observed him briefly before continuing quietly:

“Let me guess? Probably, Zhimail, the capital of the kingdom, was devastated by monsters emerging from dungeons, and those who retreated like us are now struggling outside the dragon vein. Additionally, you likely informed Silver Sword members about your location and ordered all knights to assemble here.”

Most residents of my territory were people with nowhere else to turn. They included forest dwellers hiding from harsh taxes within the dragon vein, mercenaries risking their lives daily, and wanderers ostracized by powerful figures. I gathered them all, instilled strict discipline, formed a formidable mercenary force, and through relentless battles, eventually secured our territory.

As such, the loyalty of my subjects in Bronze Sword Territory was incomparable to those of other territories. They were people I had personally saved, led, and nurtured.

Those damn orc bastards.

The realization that two-thirds of these precious villagers had been killed suddenly hit me hard. Two thousand lives lost. My teeth clenched, and anger boiled inside me. The unexpected return to reality and the unforeseen power-up I received… If not for these fortunate turns of events, even I would have been utterly devastated.

“…I believe there has been some misunderstanding, Lordship.”

“What do you mean?”

While most of my subjects followed me loyally, there were exceptions.

Knights, mages, and their accompanying soldiers.

In our territory, there were two knights and one mage but only Stonestone was appointed by me. The other two weren’t my retainers but rather, they were loyal to the Chrom Kingdom. Their stated purpose was to support the Bronze Sword Marquisate which lacked powerful figures… However, their real aim was surveillance and reporting. I was both the idol of all commoners and a living myth of success while being simultaneously a thorn in the eyes of nobles and a disgrace to feudal lords.

After much hesitation, Hundred closed his eyes briefly before speaking, “It is true that the summons has arrived. But…I have no intention of responding.”

“Why?”

“Because…the summoning order came from my second elder brother, not my father. They tried to hide it, but unless you’re the head of the family, you can’t alter the sender’s name on urgent communications.”

Hundred was of Silver Sword Count’s bloodline but ranked twenty-fifth among twelve sons and nineteen daughters. Moreover, he had no standing within the family as he was born out of wedlock to one of his father’s guard knights. If not for his talent with aura or Inner Force, Hundred wouldn’t have been acknowledged as a legitimate child of the Count.

“It seems like you don’t get along well.”

“Most legitimate heirs tend to be like that, but my second hyung particularly disliked me since he couldn’t awaken his aura. I’m unsure what happened to our father, but… even if we go back to the Silver Sword Count now, we won’t receive any favorable treatment. Besides, it has been long since mother passed away; there’s no reason to return.”

As Hundred spoke these words, he turned to observe Smile, the only mage of his territory who was currently conversing with some soldiers. “He’s in a similar situation. No matter how many message magic spells I use, there is no response from the Tower of Four Lineages. Smile is a talented mage, but…he comes from humble origins.”

That ultimately summed it up. In this remote border region far away from the center of the continent, where four energy veins converged within mountainous terrain, only those with flaws could be found here. Initially, even I, as an unknown outsider, managed to acquire such a territory containing a dragon vein solely because it was infested with wolf-type magic beasts in the Killian Mountains.

“So now you pledge your loyalty not to the kingdom but to me…”

“I will do my best to fulfill your orders.”

“But one more thing… Why didn’t you inform me about the fall of the capital city?”

I guessed that dungeons had appeared all over the continent, but I knew this only because I had visited the website for the game Revenge.

“That’s—”

“It’s too much,” I cut him off. “There are too many thoughts, Hundred.”

Hundred closed his eyes tightly at my words.

“…My apologies.”

I couldn’t help but chuckle. There was a burning ambition in his eyes.

He is ambitious.

It meant he would follow me, but not necessarily be loyal. It was similar to how employees viewed their CEO in modern companies. However, I didn’t think it was bad.

At least he’s capable.

Of course, compared to Stonestone, who possessed talent and was fiercely loyal to me, Hundred fell short, but that only highlighted how rare individuals like Stonestone were, not Hundred’s inadequacy. How many useless lackeys with high expectations yet lacking both ability and loyalty existed out there? Someone on par with Hundred was considered quite exceptional.

“Fine. This level of relationship isn’t bad.”

With those words, I handed him a card. Hundred accepted it, looking puzzled.

Ping!

A green light, indicating a high-level upgrade, momentarily illuminated his body before fading away. It signified the application of the High Swordsman (Advanced) class.

‘There aren’t many classes that can be given immediately. They are just leftovers.’

Class synthesis required four cards, so there were several remaining class cards since I couldn’t synthesize them yet. There were general classes such as Swordsman and Archer; advanced classes like High Swordsman and High Wizard; rare classes including Phantom Ranger and Priest. Unfortunately, there were no hero classes left, as synthesizing the last four hero classes had resulted in Imperial Knight.

“T-This is…” The surprised villagers gathered around due to the sudden job change impact. It was common in games but seemed alien in reality.

I took advantage of this moment to halt the movement of my subjects and line them up. There was no rush anyway, as we had lost the orc pursuit.

“As you all experienced, monsters poured out from the dungeon that appeared due to the dragon vein. They were legendary monsters.”

The rest of my speech was a reiteration of what I had told Stonestone earlier. The emergence of dungeons wasn’t limited to our territory’s dragon vein; similar incidents occurred across every vein on the continent, resulting in hordes of creatures spilling forth.

However, it wasn’t all despair. There was hope, thanks to something called ‘Counterpart Compensation,’ which I proceeded to explain.

“For some unknown reason…ever since these dungeons started appearing, I’ve gained special abilities. To use them, I must achieve certain accomplishments, such as defeating enemies stronger than myself.”

I finished brushing my teeth. It was difficult to explain the concept of ‘in-app purchases’. Rather than trying to convey that I needed money from Earth to obtain cash items, it was more convincing to say that I could use this ability whenever I completed quests. Moreover, if there were any actions they found hard to understand, I could always blame it on quest requirements.

‘Of course, even this explanation might be challenging for them.’

Contrary to my expectations, the villagers nodded understandingly.

“Actually, we already knew about it. How could we not when you produced hundreds of wild boar legs out of thin air?”

“You…knew about it?” I almost exclaimed incredulously.

What nonsense is this? Just as I was about to question them, others started chiming in:

“That’s right! Even those self-important saint and priestess couldn’t replicate such divine power!”

“He even dumped equipment made from the skin and bones after butchering them!”

“See! Didn’t I tell you? It’s clear that Lordship has heard the voice of God!”

“The black hair and eyes of our Lordship truly signify his divine lineage!”

As the excited villagers chattered away, I looked around, bewildered by their reaction. Stonestone and Smile approached me with grave expressions, nodding solemnly.

‘Huh?’

Initially perplexed by this unexpected response, it finally dawned on me what was happening.

‘Right… That display I’ve shown them already transcends dungeons or any such nonsense.’

While I was astonished by acquiring game-like abilities, class systems, and leveling up, my subjects were amazed by something as trivial as a wild boar leg. In hindsight, it wasn’t hard to understand their perspective.

If a historical figure swung a Qinglong Yan Yue Dao weighing dozens of kilograms with one hand, it would be heroic. If a monk crossed a river using only a single leaf, it was just a remarkable feat.

However, feeding a crowd of 5,000 people with five loaves and two fish? That’s a miracle.

To these villagers, extracting meat from thin air seemed more divine than possessing extraordinary abilities.

“Ahem. Anyway.” I calmed down the excited villagers and continued explaining my capabilities along with the newly applied laws of this world.

I could utilize my achievements through [Consumption] to bring forth food, weapons, and various items, with the range continually expanding. Additionally, I had the power to bestow classes upon individuals, allowing them to grow stronger as they defeated monsters.

When monsters were killed, items would drop with very low probability and they were divided into grades: ordinary, advanced, rare, hero, legendary, myth. If an item of ‘rare’ grade or higher was obtained, the fact would spread throughout the continent. At that moment, as if fulfilling a promise, a message popped up:

[A high cow has acquired the skill book Tank Body (Rare) from the Dark Forest!]

“No, a rare skill book here?!”

The drop rate must be extremely low so what was happening? It was hard to estimate how many humans and monsters were dying all over the continent. I whispered while covering my mouth discreetly, “Log out.”

Immediately, I sat down at the PC and searched for the skill.

Tank Body(Rare)(Passive)

Through experience on the battlefield, you have gained tenacious vitality.

[Detailed Effect]

Health +50

“Isn’t this crazy? Health increases by just 50 points without any consumption? And there is no limit to the number of skills for Revenge?”

Active skills consumed mana, but the effect of this passive skill was absurd. It had performance far beyond ordinary or high-grade skills!

“What job is it? Is it really a tank class?”

With that thought, I checked the classification. As I scrolled through the list, it showed:

(Common Skill)

“No way, insane…”

It meant that the skill would apply regardless of which class I possessed. Even if my class was mage, it would still apply!

‘Why wasn’t something like this available in the Skills Book Store?’

Confused, I discovered that most common skills could only be obtained from rare grade or higher skill books. They weren’t found in the regular Skills Book Store at all.

Wait. That means there might be similar skills among Legendary Hero Skills.

Despite being certain of this, I didn’t bother searching for them. It would only lead to disappointment.

Come to think of it, Hamlon, the Orc Berserker, also dropped rare skill books from his loot table.

However, I couldn’t return to my territory just to hunt down the orc berserkers after witnessing the hero-level monster, General Vulcan Orc.

“It’s unbelievable. The Khan Slayer roaming the fields…”

Khan Slayer, the General Vulcan Orc, was the boss of the Vulcan Orc Fortress dungeon. Moreover, he was specifically the boss of the ‘Hell’ difficulty level among Easy, Normal, Hard, and Hell modes! His presence outside the dungeon indicated that although Ardenia had adopted elements of the game system, not everything functioned as intended.

Well, considering even class cards, which should have been bound items, could be transferred to others, it shouldn’t come as a surprise.