Chapter 148: For Hardship

Chapter 148: For Hardship

A Gnoll with white fur entered Orazen’s palace.

The Gnoll was old, but there were traces on his body showing that he had been a warrior in the past. There was a deep scar above his left eye, a sheath naturally hanging by his side, and he maintained a well-built physique.

Behind this old Gnoll were younger Gnolls who followed his orders.

A left minister then came running toward this Gnoll and said, “Duke Fashian, I apologize, but you cannot enter with a weapon.”

“Even though it took me tens of days to get here, and I came with not even a handful of escorts?”

“Yes.”

“Well then, I guess I have no choice but to take it off. Though I’m not sure if someone who calls themself an emperor should be afraid of an old Gnoll like me.”

The left minister didn’t know how to reply and had a sour expression on his face.

Fashian unfastened the sheath around his waist and handed it to the left minister with a smirk.

“I have every reason to be afraid.”

Fashian turned around when the voice came from a distance. And before anything else, those stationed at the palace recognized the voice and bowed. The one who had just spoken was Kyle Lakrak Orazen, the emperor of the Black Scale Empire.

Fahian looked at Kyle.

‘He’s young.’

Because of all the years he had lived through, Fashian could easily guess the ages of other species.

‘The scales around his eyes still glisten, and the bumps on his tail haven’t hardened yet. He’s over fifteen years old, but not over twenty. Is this young Lizardman the ruler who unified the whole continent?’

Even in Danly, which was far away from Black Scale, it was widely known that Black Scale was a powerful country. There were even rumors saying that if a continental war was to happen, Black Scale was most likely to win. But the fact that such a young Lizardman was the one who made all this come true was surprising.

“I heard that you were an undefeated commander-in-chief in a long war across the sea... So how could a coward like me, who sacrifices his own citizens in war and gives his brother the role of a commander, thus making him always covered in the stench of blood, be compared to you?”

Fashian, of course, couldn’t just agree with that.

Even though the empire had just been established, and there was no knowing what would happen going forward due to the chaos brought about by the Wizards, Fashian’s territory in the eastern continent still wasn't enough to go up against the empire.

‘What if Danly and Black Scale are to go to war? That might be a fair fight. However, my country is too far, and Black Scale is too close.’

Fashian bowed and said, “Your Majesty is protected by Night Sky and has wisdom that reaches the skies, so there must be no need for Your Majesty to get up from the throne. I spoke carelessly when Your Majesty was simply concerned about this Gnoll, who is dull and has only swung a sword his whole life. Please forgive me.”

Hailed from a humble bloodline, Fashian had climbed up to the position of a duke due to his valor in war, but his silver tongue showed that he hadn’t gotten to where he was through swordsmanship alone.

Kyle said, “No need to ask for forgiveness. I’ll see you later at the banquet, Duke Fashian.”

As Kyle passed by, Fashian raised his head back up.

‘He isn’t as easy as I thought.’

Originally, Fashian had come all the way to Orazen to attend Kyle’s coronation ceremony. However, because it was such a long journey, he was delayed by weather and other accidents and thus missed the coronation. For that, Kyle extended the duration of the ceremony out of consideration for Fashian. And as a result, many royals, nobles, and other notable figures were staying at Orazen’s palace.

‘It’s important to attend the banquet to suss out Black Scale’s intentions, but there’s something else that’s equally important.’

Fashian followed the left minister to the room they would be staying in for the duration of the banquet.

‘I need to gather information about the Southern Continent.’

Initially, Danly started off on the continent where Black Scale was located, but after a long-distance move known as the Great Traverse, Danly was currently on the western continent.

Fashian’s hometown was on the continent where Black Scale was, but he had spent most of his life in the western continent because of the recognition he had earned. Therefore, when Fashian was sent back to this land, he had believed at first that his king no longer needed him; even though the small remaining land of Danly on the third continent was still comparable to other countries, the people of Danly only thought of it as a trace left in the Great Traverse. Additionally, if Fashian were to return to his homeland, he would most likely be perceived as demoted or banished. But that wasn’t the case.

It was revealed that a new continent existed beneath Black Scale, known as the Southern Continent. And moreover, it was known that there were hardly any powerful nations dominating the Southern Continent.

‘The size of land determines national power.’

Until now, Danly had had nothing to be concerned about even though Black Scale was a powerful country. Apart from the fact that Black Scale was far away, in Danly’s perspective, Black Scale wasn’t a threat that they had to pay much attention to. However, Black Scale showed their hidden potential and took over the continent in an instant. If Black Scale wanted to, they would easily be able to swallow Danly’s remaining land on the continent as well, but perhaps because they didn’t want expansion, they hadn’t made any move for war yet.

‘The fight would take place somewhere else.’

Fashian believed the fight would take place on the Southern Continent. And it wouldn’t be a large-scale war.

‘Instead, it will be a fight of who claims more land.’

Danly was far, so Fashian planned to move shrewdly to find out stories that couldn’t be learned in Danly.

***

“The fourth continent is an empty land?”

Sung-Woon nodded at Lunda’s question.

“Yes.”

An empty land. In The Lost World, this didn’t mean that it was actually a land that was empty. Strictly speaking, it was hard to find land that was completely unoccupied in The Lost World. From the North Pole to the South Pole, as long as there were dry lands, there would be people, and that could be the case because the Human species could adapt to different terrains. So in The Lost World, an empty land referred to a region that no player had occupied yet.

“But Sha-Cha exists. And you even traded with them. Doesn’t that mean their civilization has developed to a high enough level?”

“I’ll tell you something surprising.”

“Something...surprising?”

“Sha-Cha’s main species are Deep Ones.”

“So?”

“Deep One’s are fish.”

“Oh.”

“And they even live in the sea.”

Frogmen were able to live in water, and once their civilization levels advanced, they would build underwater cities. However, that was only in freshwater. They did have some resistance against seawater, but living in water with high salinity would cause them pain, so the majority of Frogmen’s range of activity was limited to lakes and rivers.

Sung-Woon explained, “Deep Ones are the opposite of Frogmen. They are fine in high salinity water, but they avoid freshwater. Of course, they don’t immediately die if they go into freshwater, but their skin can’t resist drying up as well as Frogmen.”

Wisdom nodded at Sung-Woon’s words.

“So the central area might be completely empty. How big is Sha-Cha’s territory?”

“The country of the Deep Ones is quite large. They dominate most of the coastal areas that I have checked so far, and it also seems that they have a city under the sea. However, in terms of population composition, Deep Ones are the major species, and the other species are pretty much treated as slaves. Most of Yaboon’s Pirates were also Deep Ones.”

Crampus nodded.

“So you’re saying we should go to the fourth continent.”

“Yes.”

“Because it’s also an opportunity to revive AR.”

.

“Exactly.”

Sung-Woon took out the vassal statue of AR1026 from his inventory and placed it on the conference room table.

“Regarding the strategic value in the game of reviving AR1026...”

Sung-Woon looked around the conference room and noticed the eyes of Jang-Wan’s lion mask were wide open and staring straight at him.

“...I won’t say anything about it. There’s nothing even to say about it. The more gods in the pantheon, the more advantageous it’ll be as we can take on different roles. Everyone knows that, right?”

There were many other reasons as well. It was necessary for them to find out whether AR1026 would be okay after being released. Someone other than AR1026 might become a vassal during this game. If some changes to the game had made it impossible for them to release someone from their statue, turning someone into a vassal would have entirely different implications.

‘According to the original rules, she hasn’t really died, so it should be fine. And we’ve been following the rules until now. There’s no reason for things to suddenly change.’

Eldar then said, “So then...is AR the only one?”

Sung-Woon shook his head and took out two more vassal statues. It was the vassal statues of Lim Chun-Sik and Solongos.

“They did get eliminated quite early on in the game, but I don’t think they’re incompetent.”

Lunda asked, “Wouldn’t they have ill feelings toward you?”

“What if they do? They won’t have any toward you guys, and they won’t cause us any harm for the sake of the alliance. Or at least for their own sake.”

And there was another reason.

If there were any connections between the other players, just like the relationship between Sung-Woon and his younger cousin, it was necessary to meet as many players as possible and check.

‘And who would dislike being revived again?’

A special ritual was required to release a vassal, which was called ‘Hardship’ within the game system. The Hardship could be set by the player, but it wasn’t the player who would perform it themself; instead, it had to be carried out by individuals who had received revelations from the player.

The difficulty of the Hardship depended on values as measured in the game. For example, picking a medicinal herb on a small hill would only give less than ten points, sacrificing someone as an offering would give 300, and killing a giant monster, which would require the cooperation of lots of people, would give around 1000 points. Therefore, by going to an untrodden continent and overcoming the trial of killing monsters they had never seen and discovering treasures, they could earn quite a lot of points.

“I’ve checked places where ancient ruins might exist. If something is found, that should earn us enough points to revive AR. And if we don’t have enough, we can postpone reviving the other two players.”

Jang-Wan then said, “So ultimately, it’s not only for AR. This is just...”

“Just?”

“Imperialism, or colonization, isn’t it?”

This was a common occurrence in The Lost World. As battles between continents intensified, the level of civilization of each continent would differ. And if that difference became big, there were cases where advanced civilizations would colonize others.

‘Of course, subjugating another land isn’t easy when it isn’t empty, and another player is there...’

Anyhow, the Southern Continent was currently an empty land. At least it should be according to what had been confirmed so far.

‘If we could expand our territory before starting a war of nerves against the first or second continent, that would be perfect.’

Sung-Woon then said, “Well, you don’t intend to criticize it, do you?”

Jang-Wan hesitated before answering, “...No.”

Sung-Woon shrugged and replied, “Then it’s settled. Wouldn’t AR be pleased to know that we’re at an advantage in the game when she comes back?”

Jang-Wan sighed, but couldn’t help but agree.