Chapter 99
Chapter 99 – Consumption and Evolution (9)
“Now that you’ve just completed the wall construction, you deserve rewards and rest, but the situation is a bit urgent. With three enemy nests fallen, our area to protect has expanded.”
“It’s alright, Chief. After all, isn’t this all for everyone? If it’s what he desires, we’ll gladly work.”
“I’m not planning to fully encircle the village with walls, so it won’t take too long. The wall need only serve as an obstacle. When it blocks the way, the defense towers bestowed by him will unleash firepower to annihilate the enemies together with us.”
Balun gathered transporters and builders, including Morin and Herson. The goal was to turn the newly won land into a solid fortress within their territory.
They realized that fighting the bugs, especially those ants, was akin to a land grab. It might be a stretch, but once territory is taken, it must be defended at all costs to win the war.
For that, they desperately needed the capability to construct buildings using blocks granted by the abilities obtained in the game.
The miners, outnumbering the transporters, had already begun digging and compacting the nearby earth with their pickaxes.
“The west has tall mountains, which can naturally serve as a wall. To the east flows a river. They still lack the ability to cross, so if we connect a wall there, it will become a stronghold.”
Balun explained how they would build the fortress, observing the increase in workers due to the acceptance of additional immigrants.
Until now, they had no resources to build proper walls and could only endure by creating a limited fortress in a dot format, but with the completion of wall construction in the village, they gained some leeway, aiming to use that strength.
If they block the path with a linear wall, the area beyond becomes completely theirs. Balun planned to use this secured land as a magnificent front yard.
With the population steadily increasing and, most importantly, the presence of defense towers that could robustly defend the area without exhausting manpower, this plan was feasible.
“Chief, um, is there any news about my other kin?”
At that moment, Herson cautiously spoke up.
Balun sighed softly upon hearing Herson’s words.
He had promised to secure the traces of dwarves, yet no significant evidence had been found so far.
“Some equipment believed to belong to the dwarves has been discovered at their nests… but it seems no corpses or living beings have been found yet.”
“This place may be on the border of our territory, but it can’t possibly be like that.”
Herson slumped down at the disappointing news.
The dwarf survivors so far included only him and his family. Traces are rarely found, and not only have no living dwarf survivors been discovered, but not even corpses.
Given that the bugs use all living beings as sustenance, it’s no surprise that no bodies remained, but those around could only keep silent and observe.
“We found traces! It’s a devastated village!”
“Is that true!?”
However, is it due to their advance conquering the bugs’ hives one by one that, as the scouting range broadened, they began uncovering things?
Herson, urgently messaged Balun as he rushed over, leaving the new wall construction behind.
*
“It’s just ruins. Unfortunately.”
I could tell just how overjoyed Herson, the dwarf survivor, was.
His mood appeared on the status chart, but it was unnecessary to look as his expression revealed everything.
Yet I couldn’t help but smile wryly at the disappointment upon confirming on the screen that the dwarf village was completely empty. No signs of survivors were present.
There was a bug hive nearby, and even within the village, enemy sentinels were roaming.
Even if there were survivors, unless they fled like Herson, they wouldn’t have been able to endure.
“—…”
The scouts led by Riena fought the enemy sentinels and reached the village.
Among them was Herson. They arrived at the village only to be met with despair at the sight of the empty ruins.
The remaining traces were entirely those left by the enemies who occupied the area.
Herson’s hopes of finding remnants of his kind fell through. The other residents who brought him this far looked on with sorrowful expressions.
“—?”
“–, —!”
Then, at that moment, it seemed Herson, who had been sitting in despair, found something in the ground.
While I briefly opened the game interface to check on my progress, Herson began calling others and frantically digging in the dirt.
‘Could it be a trace?’
To me, it appeared to be just an ordinary mark.
Though slightly different from the traces left by the bugs, resembling something dragged along, it didn’t seem particularly special.
However, Herson seemed to discover something significant.
Hurrying along the traces, he pointed somewhere with his fingertip. I zoomed out the screen and directed the view to where he was pointing.
What he indicated was a nearby mountain. His eyes sparkled with certainty as if something lay there.
‘This could be an achievement.’
The moment he rescued the Herson family, the achievement of saving dwarves had registered.
Given the dwarf kingdom had already fallen, rescuing more dwarf survivors would surely earn achievements and points.
For someone like me, already contemplating various points that needed to be allocated, the opportunity to score an achievement couldn’t be overlooked.
‘Dwarves have their unique talents, and those talents will aid us.’
The dwarves we rescued total three: Herson and the couple Eva, along with their young child.
All of them had traits.
Though it’s too early to conclude given the small sample size, even now, with had hidden talents identified from various games, the probability is comparatively higher given that among the Arin tribe, which comprises ten persons, five have no traits at all.
Their race or origin mattered little to me. After all, having a common enemy makes us comrades.
They would have to endure that much if they were to combat the crazy monsters called bugs.
“It’s best to rescue them.”
My head started to throb, and I bit my lip.
Rescuing the dwarf survivors would increase the manpower, but I still hadn’t cleared the enemies around the area.
If I sent troops to rescue them, only to face great losses, I’d incur losses rather than gains.
‘They’re probably grappling with similar dilemmas.’
I wasn’t the only one struggling with such concerns. Balun, upon hearing the news, was engaged in a heated discussion with the Arin tribe leadership.
Herson, having discovered the possibility of survivors, couldn’t muster the courage to voice his opinion strongly and merely remained seated outside.
In the end, the chief Balun’s intention held the sway, but Balun had remained silent, listening to what others had to say.
I felt my fingers tingle at the sight. If I stepped up to issue orders, they would follow my command.
However, the hesitation in making a decision stemmed from the fact that they knew more about certain aspects than I did.
Even zooming in to examine, the mountain Herson pointed out appeared to be just a normal mountain.
“–, —.”
Yet, they soon reached a decision. It seemed Riena’s will strongly influenced the process.
The fact that Riena and several warriors and soldiers started forming a special unit to rescue the dwarf survivors was proof of that.
The potential mission of searching for the dwarf survivors was now added to the task list along with building walls based on the defense towers and preparing a fortress against enemy incursions.
As I had anticipated, they would likely begin operations early the following day.
As much as I wanted to ask those entering the hero nurturing center to come along when they emerged, that would take some time, so it wasn’t feasible. The sooner the search for survivors began, the better.
“…The dwarves are in a state of ruin already. What about the elves here? Are they still intact?”
Simultaneously, my curiosity naturally turned towards the folder with files that could change my desktop wallpaper.
Surely there were places besides the Northern Land, the territory of the dwarves.
At this moment, unable to engage with any other places and worried I might fall behind, if I eventually got the chance, I needed to check on that as well, and the workload just kept piling up.
“Ugh, ugh.”
While the residents on my desktop formed exploration teams, built walls, and farmed resources, time continued to flow, and dusk approached.
Having spent the entire day seated in front of the computer, I forced myself to stretch before rising from my seat.
Since waking up early and sitting in front of the computer, getting up at dusk had become my new life pattern, synced with the activities of my residents.
As the residents’ activities waned in the evening, this was my cue to handle household chores or tackle overflowing tasks.
“Hello.”
The call from my family home came in while I was hurriedly eating the ordered meal. Clearing my throat, I steadied my voice.
“Uh, yeah. I’m still good at my job, right? You’re not asking for money. What would I do if I quit? It’s not that dangerous here, is it?”
The official bug announcement had become the issue. I was desperately covering up for my parents who were worried about my daily commute.
In truth, it had been quite a while since I stopped going to work and holed up at home, but there was no helping that.
After all, there were real people I needed to care for inside the monitor. Now that number had reached thousands, and the scale was considerable.
‘Honestly, I’m more worried about home.’
The bugs were starting to encroach seriously. Since nearly dying from tentacles emerging from the monitor, I’ve been on extreme alert, but by now, it no longer felt like just my problem.
Who knows when or where these monsters might surface to kill other users and establish nests in reality; I just felt anxiety.
-I’ve decided to step up. If we share our experiences and strategies, new users will benefit, and the likelihood of them failing missions and releasing bugs will diminish.
“Are you really okay?”
-I’ve already informed my parents.
In those circumstances, Lee So-Yeon contacted me, expressing her willingness to step up. It aligned well with her disposition and was essential as well.
Since she had promised to keep my identity secret, I had no right to hinder her actions in the first place.
-Of course, that would mean limitations on our transactions or meetings.
“I can’t help it. I have no choice but to don my cloak again and seek you out.”
-You might not even need to do that. I mean, I’m going to found a company and demand our rightful activities from the nation. Like in the U.S., we don’t need government support. It’s obvious they would try to collar us under the pretext of providing support. By starting a company, I can arrange to employ you as one of my staff.
However, Lee So-Yeon proved to be bolder and more remarkable than I anticipated.
