Chapter 28
[Quest ‘Resurrection of the Black Ring Society’ Completed.]
[Level Up!]
[Level Up!]
…….
[Dominion over Lawless Port Granado Acquired.]
[Title ‘Ruler of Lawless Port’ Acquired.]
[Fame increased by 1202.]
[All stats increased by 20.]
[Level Up!]
…….
[The Dark God smiles in satisfaction at the Contractor’s achievements.]
[The Dark God sponsors 10,000 points.]
The level-up notification, always a pleasure to hear!
At the end of the various notifications covering my vision, I finally found the message that I had acquired dominion over Lawless Port.
Lawless Port!
That city was finally in my grasp.
The very first thing I did after gaining control of Lawless Port was!
“Today’s stream ends here.”
After ending the stream.
“Territory Management Window.”
It was to open the Territory Management Window, a privilege only granted to the city’s ruler.
[Lawless Port Granado]
[Development Level: Intermediate Level 1]
[Granado is a city of outlaws that has continued its legacy for a long time in Ard World. It is a city of evil where countless criminals and outlaws from all over the continent flock to avoid death or are exiled, and at the same time, it is the garbage dump of Ard World.]
[A decade ago, due to the Great Cataclysm that shook the continent, the surrounding land subsided and came into contact with the sea, transforming the city of outlaws into a port of outlaws.]
[Now the true ruler of the city has returned. A new wind will blow in Lawless Port.]
[Military: D] [Low Military Power.]
[Economy: B+] [Economy is at an upper-middle level.]
[Public Order: E] [Public order is very poor.]
[Culture: D] [Lack of substantial culture.]
[Population: 22,420]
[Funds Held: 12,343,210 Gold]
[Monthly Income: 750,000 Gold]
[Special Notes]
[NPC outlaws and criminals make up the majority of the residents. Their presence is severely worsening public order.]
[It is the final destination of the smuggling route from the Eastern Sea. Numerous smuggled goods and stolen goods are traded in the Black Market. It accounts for a significant portion of Lawless Port’s revenue.]
[The city was heavily damaged during the battle. The Development Level has dropped. Restore the Development Level by repairing key facilities.]
[Residents are afraid of you who destroyed the city with overwhelming power. Residents’ loyalty will temporarily increase significantly.]
[To properly rule Lawless Port, you must earn recognition from the Five Factions. Show your power and take them under your command.]
[This city has no cultural facilities to speak of. Due to poor public order and lack of culture, improving these aspects will require significant expenditures.]
[View Main Facilities]
[Port – Most infrastructure is intact.]
[Reconstruction Priority: D]
[Black Tower – Symbol of the Black Ring Society and Black Magicians. However, it has been significantly contaminated by pirates. Maintenance is required.]
[Maintenance Priority: B, Reconstruction Priority: B]
[Black Market – The infrastructure is intact, but maintenance and reconstruction are necessary as the storage for various goods has been destroyed.]
[Maintenance Priority: C, Reconstruction Priority: C]
…….
‘It’s not as bad as I thought!’
It’s not the worst-case scenario!
That was the first conclusion I reached after seeing the Territory Management Window.
Territory Management, Lordship.
This kind of position was very familiar.
Because I had done it to the point of nausea in the previous game.
From being a lord to becoming the ruler who held hegemony over the entire continent!
From my perspective, having reached the peak from the very bottom, the current state of Lawless Port wasn’t bad.
‘The funds held are quite substantial, the monthly income is decent, and even though the military and public order stats are at rock bottom, it’s not a big problem since they can be raised by pouring in money.’
Money!
Whether in the game or in reality, everything ultimately boils down to money.
And Lawless Port Granado, as expected of the Pirate Alliance’s cash cow, had accumulated a considerable amount of funds.
The problem was that even if all that money was invested, it would be impossible to restore the city!
Although the city’s funds held were twelve million gold, it was far from enough to rebuild the city, which had been reduced to ashes, back to its original form.
That’s how much it would cost to restore a once-destroyed city back to its original state; it would require an astronomical budget.
‘Well, money isn’t my area of concern anyway.’
I didn’t worry about the money issue at all.
Money!
That was Shin Ha-yeon’s area of responsibility, not something I needed to think about.
She provides me with wealth and power, and I, with her support, will start a rebellion!
I liked the current relationship, which was based on a thorough give-and-take.
Just as I was thinking about this and that about Lawless Port.
“Contractor.”
Khalid spoke to me.
I closed the Territory Management Window and looked at Khalid.
“Thank you so much for granting this old man’s request.”
Khalid!
The leader of the Black Ring Society and an NPC with Over-Ranker level power was currently bowing politely to me with five other Black Magicians behind him.
“It was something I had to do, so don’t worry too much about it.”
I showed humility in response to Khalid’s words, and Khalid bowed his head to me and continued speaking.
“Contractor, if you command, we will immediately maintain the Black Tower and reopen the doors of the Black Ring Society. Will you grant us permission?”
[Quest has occurred!]
[Reorganization]
[Grade: Hero]
[This is the headquarters of the Black Ring Society, an organization of Black Magicians that has inherited its legacy from ancient times. Black Magicians stored, developed, passed down, and researched their magic here, using it as a means of spreading the dark gospel.]
[The time has come to rebuild the fallen Black Tower. Excavate the ruins of the old Black Tower hidden deep within Granado and collect the legacy left by the previous Black Tower Masters.]
After checking the quest window, I looked at the cityscape still billowing with smoke.
The Black Spire, soaring high enough to be seen clearly even from the docks where I was!
I had known for a long time that the name of that spire was the Black Tower.
Because even in the previous game, where Lawless Port was called the Lawless City, that black tower stood in the center of the city, and even then, it was called the Black Tower!
“Permission granted.”
“Thank you.”
[Quest Accepted.]
[500,000 Gold deducted from Territory Funds as maintenance cost.]
A message appeared stating that 500,000 gold was deducted from the territory funds as a maintenance cost along with the quest acceptance message, but I wasn’t surprised.
Because it was money I had to pay anyway to proceed with the next Divine Quest.
[Black Tower]
[This is the headquarters of the Black Ring Society, an organization of Black Magicians that has inherited its legacy from ancient times. Black Magicians stored, developed, passed down, and researched their magic here, achieving continuous development through the exchange and preservation of their accomplishments.]
[Protected by numerous defensive magic, including ancient Black Magic, it is a magic tower of Black Magicians, holding countless secrets.]
[The symbol of oppression used by the detestable pirates to rule Lawless Port has finally regained its true form with the return of the Black Ring Society.]
[Time remaining until maintenance completion: 71:59:55]
[Functions]
[Buys and sells Black Magic related items.]
[Black Magic skills can be learned.]
[Allows class change to higher or related classes related to Black Magicians.]
[After maintenance completion, the Black Magician Class Change Quest will be opened to users.]
[After maintenance completion, Black Ring Society related faction quests will be opened to users.]
[After maintenance completion, you can perform the Divine Quest given by the Dark God in the Black Tower.]
However, I was surprised to see the functions of the Black Tower in the information window that popped up afterward.
I wasn’t surprised by the fact that the Divine Quest wasn’t over yet, as I had already guessed as much.
Eugene!
I already knew through prior research the extent of the Divine Quest given to him by the Goddess of Light, Luminus.
The Dark God is an existence on par with the Goddess of Light!
Based on my experience so far, it was absurd to think that the Divine Quest of the Dark God would end with something as small as taking over Lawless Port.
The notification that users could perform quests related to the Black Ring Society wasn’t surprising either, as it mentioned that the Black Ring Society would be reopening its doors.
What surprised me was the message that the Black Magician Class Change Quest would become available.
‘Black Magician Class Change Quest opening?!’
Black Magician.
An NPC-exclusive class whose method of class change remained a mystery even in the previous game!
That class was finally being opened to me in Second.
The time remaining until the Black Magician class was opened was 3 days in game time, one day in real time!
If the Black Magician class were to be opened after that time!
It would undoubtedly cause a tremendous ripple effect, not only in Ard World but also in the real world.
I smiled, imagining the future.
Because that ripple effect would be positive for me, there was no way it would bring negative consequences.
As the saying goes, new content in a game is always welcome.
Even more so if it’s a new class!
The users would love it.
And the users’ favorable public opinion towards the new class would naturally turn towards me, the one who opened it up.
It was as if a pumpkin had suddenly rolled into my lap!
I smiled at the sudden stroke of luck.
The power of public opinion that had defeated me in the previous game!
Because I sensed that power finally moving in my direction.
▄ ▄ ▄
The Lawless Port Recapture Battle!
After the war was completely over, I cleaned up the aftermath with Ignis.
The cleanup itself wasn’t much.
It ended with disbanding the gathered users, taking selfies with them as fan service, and treating the users who had gathered until the very end kindly to leave a good impression.
However, since the number of people gathered was so large, and the event itself was on a massive scale, it took quite a long time to finish everything.
Just as I was about to log out after finishing all the cleanup work.
[Drakan-nim.]
Shin Ha-yeon whispered to me.
[What is it?]
[Since you finished your work well, I’d like to treat you to dinner. Is that alright?]
Dinner invitation!
The topic she brought up was, contrary to my expectations, a very everyday story.
[Sure.]
[Then I’ll see you outside.]
Since I had no reason to refuse, I accepted the offer and logged out after hearing her reply.
▄ ▄ ▄
After logging out, I rode in Shin Ha-yeon’s car and arrived at a high-class Japanese restaurant.
The kind of restaurant that often appears in movies and dramas as a backdrop for secret conversations between chaebols and politicians!
That kind of Japanese restaurant scenery unfolded before my eyes.
I naturally sat across from her in a room with a neat interior, and sushi and sashimi, clearly prepared with great care by the chef, came into view.
“I wasn’t sure what you liked, so I ordered the signature menu in advance. I hope you like it.”
Listening to Shin Ha-yeon’s words, I naturally sat across from her.
Even when I earned a lot of money as the Master of the Iron Blood Alliance six years ago, I didn’t frequent restaurants like this.
Not only did I grow up poor, but I also thought it was better to give money to my parents than to indulge in luxury by spending money on food.
Anyway, I couldn’t refuse the food offered, so I quietly picked up a piece of sashimi with my chopsticks, dipped it in soy sauce, and put it in my mouth.
‘Delicious!’
I smiled faintly at the taste of the sashimi melting in my mouth.
They say expensive food is expensive for a reason, and it seemed that saying wasn’t a lie.
Seeing my expression, a smile appeared on Shin Ha-yeon’s lips.
“Did you know? During this Lawless Port Recapture Battle, the number of viewers watching Drakan-nim’s live stream exceeded 5 million?”
“That’s a lot.”
“Just calculating the donations received today alone, it’s exceeding hundreds of millions of won. You even briefly held the number one spot in the live streaming rankings, it was an impressive performance in many ways.”
Donations!
I hadn’t been paying attention to how many donations were coming in because I was busy watching the chat being updated every second, but to think that donations exceeding hundreds of millions of won had come in!
‘I’ve heard that live streaming is profitable, but I didn’t know it would be to this extent!’
Of course, the amount of donations I received wouldn’t be the usual case, but in any case, it was an income that couldn’t be compared to the days of the previous game six years ago, when I would sell gameplay videos to cable broadcasting stations for at most ten million won.
I realized anew how much the market size of Ard Saga Second had grown compared to the previous game.
Looking directly at Shin Ha-yeon, who was speaking with a smile, I chewed and swallowed a piece of sushi before speaking.
“So, did you call me here just to praise me?”
“I’m curious about your future plans.”
Shin Ha-yeon’s eyes turned towards me.
She still had a smile on her face, and I trailed off.
“Plans, huh.”
I nodded slightly at Shin Ha-yeon’s words.
To take revenge on Eugene, to succeed in the grand scheme of rebellion, a plan was definitely needed.
Of course, both in the previous game and in Second, there were as many variables in Ard World as there were in the real world, and there were many times when things didn’t go according to plan, but a certain direction was still necessary.
“First, I need to rebuild and develop Lawless Port.”
The city that had come into my hands, the city I could call my own!
My first goal was to rebuild and develop that city, going beyond just restoring it.
“Then I need to fight the Pirate King.”
The Pirate King, and the Pirate Alliance!
They were my next target.
To maintain the favorable public opinion of the eastern users and even turn them into my solid concrete support base, a war with the Pirate King and the Pirate Alliance was essential.
Looking directly at Shin Ha-yeon, I continued speaking.
“And after that, based on the support of the eastern users and the fame gained from subjugating the Pirate Alliance, I need to swallow up the Gasan Kingdom.”
The Gasan Kingdom, the corrupt nation that ruled the eastern part of Ard World!
I planned to swallow up that nation.
The Pirate Alliance!
If I defeated them, not only would the public opinion of the users be on my side, but the NPCs of the kingdom suffering under the Pirate Alliance would surely support me as well.
And with their support, I intended to overthrow and swallow up the Gasan Kingdom, groaning under corruption.
Just like how I usurped the throne of the Saxon Kingdom in the previous game!
This time, too, the throne of the Gasan Kingdom would fall into my hands.
And the power gained from the Gasan Kingdom would become the cornerstone for the grand scheme of rebellion.
Hearing my answer, Shin Ha-yeon smiled brightly.
“As expected, joining forces with Drakan-nim was the best decision.”
She said in a gentle voice, filling her glass with sake and then pouring the warm sake into my glass.
“You are the perfect candidate for rebellion, and the best partner I’ve ever met.”
“Likewise.”
Cheers.
Our sake glasses clinked in the air.
I smiled, savoring the warm sake that went down smoothly.
The grand scheme of rebellion!
It was time to take the first step.
