A Village Appeared on My Desktop

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Chapter

59 – Clash (9)

“The enemies’ defenses have been breached. Charge!”

At that moment, Riena led the vanguards into battle, breaking through the resisting enemies’ defensive line.

The main force following behind also surged inward all at once. Since the defense line had already crumbled, there was no proper resistance aimed at the main force, such as a rain of arrows.

Thanks to that, chaos unfolded throughout the village. Shura and Rasen, participating in a large-scale war for the first time, found themselves right in the thick of it.

They weren’t forced into this; they were warriors of the tribe and had important roles to play. Their task was to face the opposing warriors head-on.

Outside, an entity observing this scene had been taking down the enemies’ main forces, but there were still warriors left among the enemies.

“What are you…!”

As Shura rode with others, the moment she closed the distance, she kicked off her horse and leapt into the air. At first, her target was startled by her appearance, but then they were shocked by what followed.

‘This is no different from what I’ve done until now.’

As she hurtled through the air, she gritted her teeth and drew her two daggers. The weapons were disadvantageous against an opposing warrior wielding a longsword larger than her, but when she gripped those two daggers, her power surged.

Skills she’d employed against monsters in the game were unleashed from Shura’s body. One of the assassin skills from Dark Blood: Shape Shifting.

The sword of the opposing warrior, swung at her, sliced through the air helplessly, while Shura moved behind in no time and slashed the startled enemy’s body along with their leather armor.

‘I did it!’

As the enemy’s body fell, splattering blood, she exhaled a breath she had been holding in with joy. As someone who had been a weakling merely fleeing, she had finally downed a strong opponent with her own honed strength.

It felt entirely different from the sensation of taking down monsters in the game.

“Watch out!”

Then came a frantic shout from behind. Startled, she turned around, and an enemy was already charging at her with an axe raised.

“Ugh..”

Almost immediately, a fiery fireball hit, knocking the charging enemy soldier to the ground. Rasen, who had been on horseback, quickly cast magic to save her. Shura grimaced at the hot heat and covered her face with her arm.

“Are you hurt from my attack…?”

“Great. Just keep following me. If you watch my back, we won’t lose.”

Rasen, who was startled by the look in her eyes, worried that she might have been hurt by his magic, was met with her mischievous smile as she waved her dagger.

“W-wait!”

With no choice, Rasen chased after her as she rushed forward on horseback.

The battle was nearing its conclusion; as Chieftain Balun dealt with the resisting chief of the opposing tribe, those who had lost their focus abandoned their weapons and surrendered from all directions.

“It’s not over yet. Everyone hold your positions and maintain strict surveillance. Don’t relax until we safely return.”

Balun informed the surrendering tribe members to drop their weapons and follow his orders while instructing his own soldiers to hold their positions now that Chief Oren was dead.

*

‘It’s a relief we won, and without huge losses.’

The battle ended in our victory, with Balun taking care of the enemy chief. During that time, I had been glued to the laptop screen without moving a step, but now I could finally take a breather.

“Impressive. They really seem to have a lot of numbers, and they fight exceptionally well…”

“Even though it’s a small group, they have a nomadic spirit and have been competing amongst themselves for survival, so they’re good at fighting. Both children and adults.”

Lee So-Yeon, watching the scene beside me, stared in awe. We could see the residents on the background we couldn’t hide from others.

However, this was war. It was hard to watch the brutal battle unfold in reality, without mosaic filters, as it would in movies or dramas. Her expression was pale.

“It’s convenient that all programs linked to the Master Program can be used even if you change your computer.”

Seeing that the residents seemed to be in the cleanup stage, I thought I could step away now, closing the laptop screen. I could always tidy up and check back when I got home.

“I’m curious too. Show me once.”

“Shall I?”

Before heading back, she grew interested in seeing the residents she was taking care of, albeit in her own way. Having already seen mine, she opened her laptop without much resistance and displayed her screen.

‘Is that a forest?’

The first image that appeared was less of a grassland and more reminiscent of a meadow or perhaps a wooded valley with an abundance of trees.

And within it, a village appeared. As Lee So-Yeon grabbed the mouse to zoom in, I noticed a rather large village surrounded by a wooden fence.

Despite following my advice from the beginning, the attire and appearances of the people there differed greatly from my residents.

“They don’t manage fields anymore. They almost completely gather all resources in the game world.”

“That’s right. Instead, the surplus time and labor won’t be wasted digging up the ground all day and will be used elsewhere, which is actually a gain.”

Indeed, the large fields surrounding the village showed clear signs of neglect. However, just from this screen, I couldn’t identify where that land was, as it seemed to be developing in a completely different direction from my residents.

“How do you plan to expand your territory? Is it possible to increase your population by attacking other villages like the tribes of the grassland?”

“I haven’t thought much about that yet, but we’ve captured some of the thieves who recently attacked us and turned them into slaves. I think I can find a way.”

“Sounds good. Anyway, we’ve both overcome the crisis, so that’s what matters. Thank you for the gifts you gave today.”

“I’ll contact you once this cleanup is finished, so feel free to show up anytime. We’ll probably just be sitting at our desks looking at our computers anyway, so wouldn’t it be better to do it together? It would also make it easier to communicate in case of emergency.”

“Let’s do that.”

After gathering my belongings, I left. Today’s meeting concluded here. Listening to Lee So-Yeon, I felt that our next meeting might be in a proper setting.

‘The population has more than doubled in one go.’

After I got home, I immediately turned on my computer.

On a screen much larger than my laptop, even now in the late night, the residents were working diligently in their respective positions.

Especially the main forces led by Balun were still engaged in the aftermath of the tribe they had conquered. Controlling the surrendered members, who were several times more numerous than themselves, was part of that cleanup effort.

According to my understanding, it seemed a bit strange that they would immediately accept the surrendering members into their tribe without any cost, but if their culture valued population itself as a form of strength, then it didn’t seem too odd.

“—!”

Balun, on horseback, was tirelessly managing the situation, receiving oaths of loyalty from the few enemies who surrendered after dodging my hammer and surviving.

Whether it was a condition of surrender or not, the surrendered tribe members were preparing to leave and pack their belongings, abandoning the villages they had lived in.

‘Does this mean I don’t have to worry about a betrayal?’

In that chaotic atmosphere, I dragged and checked all the surrendered residents just in case, but only those marked as allies or neutral appeared, with no red-highlighted adversaries in sight.

If I could manipulate the Master Program’s judgment, which separates adversaries and restricts functions based on their status, it meant that none of the surrendered ones were harboring secret intentions against us.

At this point, these newly acquired residents began to appear as boundless resources brimming with talent.

[Achievement Unlocked: Stage of Development (2)]

[Achievement Unlocked: Successful Training (1)]

[Achievement Unlocked: Defeat of Opposing Tribe (100/100)]

Moreover, I was now reviewing the achievements accomplished through this war. Points that hadn’t been accrued in bulk since the Bug Nest incident finally started pouring in.

‘New games or programs? Or perhaps expansions of existing ones?’

With the amount I had earned, there were many things I could do. I even considered expanding the desktop smasher to unlock powers greater than my hammer.

“This might take a while to finish everything…”

As I sat quietly in my chair, doing pointless internet surfing past midnight, it seemed the residents’ tasks showed no signs of winding down.

I sighed softly and clicked the mouse. I would probably have to go through several tens of repetitions of actions, but even if I wanted to move the mouse myself and lead them, I could only wait for now since preparations for their relocation needed to be complete.

Taking a tribe and relocating its people wasn’t something that would happen overnight. In reality, Balun had probably already gone to bed, being practical about the long-term view.

‘There’s no other choice but to bring back the important figures first.’

Cleaning up and managing the newly acquired residents was something others could also handle. However, there were those with critical missions.

I lifted a few people, including Riena, using the mouse and directly moved them to the village. Although I wished to give them some rest, there was no option. If they stopped, their growth would be stunted from that moment onward.

“—, —-.”

It seemed Riena was well aware of that point.

Despite her own fatigue, she comforted Shura and Rasen, who had come along with her, and after sharing the joy of victory with those waiting in the village, she entered her home.

Before she went in, I used a screen capture application to check her detailed stats, and she wasn’t extremely exhausted. She would rest and recover on her own.

‘There are many things to be mindful of.’

They weren’t just game characters; beyond mere stamina, I had to observe and manage much more in executing tasks.

Seeing their tendencies as they regarded me as a divine being, it was clear they would go above and beyond if I ordered them. As a result, I, with only basic experience as a mere employee, was suddenly feeling the burden of managing hundreds of workers.

That’s why I needed more people like Balun—leaders or managers I could trust to delegate control to.

As the residents’ numbers grew in the future, possibly swelling to thousands or even tens of thousands, it would become physically impossible for me to monitor each of them individually.