A Village Appeared on My Desktop

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Chapter 75 – The Northeastern Wind (5)

“Is that true? Are you really treating us as tribe members and not as slaves?”

“Yes. It wouldn’t mean anything otherwise. It’s the same for your family joining us here.”

Chieftain Balun responded with a smirk to Luhan’s surrendered soldier. Those who lost in battle naturally had to pay the price. While capable warriors and their families could still receive decent treatment, those who weren’t out of luck often became slaves. That was a sort of cost imposed on the weak.

However, Balun didn’t feel the need to do that. It was only natural for the surrendered individuals to widen their eyes in surprise.

“The Guardian Deity will forgive and accept you, so you should show gratitude to Him.”

“W-What do you mean, Guardian Deity?”

Balun revealed the existence of the Guardian Deity. Those who couldn’t grasp it were horrified to learn that many facts contributing to their defeat stemmed from that.

‘Guess I’m getting used to this now.’

Having swiftly taken control of the prisoners, Balun faintly smiled, satisfied with his growing persuasive skills.

Absorbing an enemy tribe was something he had experienced before and would continue to do.

After overwhelming the opposition, revealing the existence of God, and explaining that following Him would mean receiving support and resources instead of oppression, the prisoners had no reason to resist violently.

Thanks to this, Balun’s Arin Tribe managed to suppress and absorb the Luhan tribe members who had intended to swallow them whole.

“You’ll adapt quickly. Once you witness the divine power with your own eyes and actually fight the Black Monsters, you won’t be able to deny it. If you believe in the grace of the God and join in the trial against the Black Monsters, anyone can be our ally.”

“I think so too. Besides, if they fully adapt, our power will expand, and we’ll have more capabilities.”

As Kun, who had worked hard digging into the ground during this battle, said those words, Balun nodded.

“Perhaps we could achieve something greater. How long must we remain a mere frontier tribe? We fled as a small tribe of only a few dozen, but we’ve defeated and absorbed numerous enemies, eventually winning against thousands of soldiers sent by the Great Chieftain. Isn’t it time we take a bit more pride in ourselves?”

Balun’s gaze landed on Riena, who was surrounded by the surrendered warriors.

The surrendered warriors, having set aside their pride, were sincerely asking her how she reached such a level when she had just defeated the strong warrior Luhan, who was significantly younger than them.

They knew very well how formidable the Mad Wolf Luhan was since they had lived under him.

“Faith in Him. Only with that can you receive His grace and become a true knight.”

Riena explained where her strength came from to those warriors. It was a power she clearly couldn’t have achieved without proving on her own, but she had indeed received concentrated investments from him from the beginning.

Some of the warriors seemed greatly impressed by her answer, their eyes sparkling.

‘The allies are increasing rapidly. Much faster than before.’

And across the screen, he continued to witness their evolving and firm belief.

“Now the population is over 3,000. Certainly, there have been quite a few deaths, but…”

With an intrigued expression, he scrolled through the management status chart, watching the numbers gradually increase. Those who were previously in hostile or neutral relationships were now turning their hearts to join the allies and getting registered in the system he created.

The speed was faster than before. While there might be differences in circumstances, the Arin Tribe’s reasoning for their newly conquered counterparts had significantly improved.

With a firm belief in the Guardian Deity who looked after them and results to prove it, those who had been captured were more deeply inspired and swayed, not just bowing out of fear or retribution.

‘Naturally, more resources are needed.’

He had his eyes set on the various talents that the new recruits possessed, realizing that as the population grew, he also needed to act accordingly.

Fortunately, the points earned from this war were not insignificant. Efficiently investing these to support the growing population of residents was his top priority.

[Activating Level 5]

‘Is this the end?’

To do that, he expanded the very first game, Sandbox Crafting, to Level 5. As a result, the number of personnel that could be deployed increased drastically, and the maintenance costs, which had previously been nibbling away at his points, were completely eliminated.

However, additional activations were no longer possible.

The limit of Sandbox Crafting was being set at this final capacity of accommodating 50 people. While 50 was certainly not a small number, it might not suffice for managing a nation beyond just a village or city.

‘A limitation of the program. If I want to go beyond this, will I have to solve it outside the game?’

Through his experiences, he had fairly accurately pinpointed the reason. The Master Program was not an absolute power. Though it was a simple game, it was a miracle for the residents.

Giving that kind of power endlessly was impossible. Even if he managed to gather resources abundantly through the game, it wouldn’t be enough to feed tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of people.

However, it wasn’t without a solution. While the resources obtained through the game were limited, creating new resources in reality using those resources was certainly possible.

‘The more people there are, the more unique talents there will be. I need to stabilize things quickly to explore everything.’

He was already excited to assign the newly joined individuals and help them awaken their abilities. Given the large number of new arrivals, it might take some time, but as it always had been, it wouldn’t take more than a few days.

‘Invest more into Essence of Monster farming, place the new individuals in hunting mode, reduce the miners, and increase the farmers. However, this could mean the game might become more necessary.’

Chuckling at the thought of where to place the new talents, he envisioned how the system had already been set in motion, running smoothly. Training warriors to gain skills in-game, hunting for special equipment, and so on.

As long as a new type of threat didn’t emerge, he calculated that they would steadily grow and be able to deal with the Bugs without issue.

*

“Chieftain!”

“What is going on here?!”

While the Arin Tribe was smoothly handling the aftermath of their victory, Chieftain Garhan, confidently leading troops and his tribe, received unexpected news. It was reported that the army led by Luhan had suffered a crushing defeat in an engagement with the enemy, and their leader, Luhan, was killed by an unknown female warrior.

At first, Garhan couldn’t believe the shocking news. However, seeing the disheveled appearance of the fleeing soldiers who had come to deliver the message left him speechless.

He had witnessed countless panicked scenes of fear on the battlefield. Such crazed individuals, whether exaggerating or not, did not lie.

“Great Chieftain! Another urgent report!”

Before he could hear any details from the desperate soldier who had fled, another shocking piece of news reached his ears.

Garhan could no longer maintain his composure. Too many unexpected variables had struck one after another.

“What’s now?”

“T-There’s a report of an unheard-of monster appearing in the Eastern village, killing people. The warriors tried to resist, but the damage is too great…”

“A monster!?”

Garhan stuttered, unable to immediately comprehend the herald’s words. Monsters sometimes appeared, but they were usually just more ferocious wild animals.

“That monster!”

At that moment, the soldier who had come earlier and was trembling opened his eyes wide upon hearing about the monster and turned to the herald.

“What does that monster look like!? D-Don’t tell me!”

“I heard it’s a gigantic, pitch-black centipede.”

At that, the startled herald inadvertently answered. Hearing this, the soldier’s eyes widened even further.

It was clear that the monster which had decimated their comrades was now chasing after them.

“Run faster! If that monster heads elsewhere, it will be hard to find.”

With his forces under attack, Garhan couldn’t remain idle. He needed to create results that would deliver retribution before the rumors spread, so he sent warriors and soldiers directly to attack the unidentified monster that dared to assault them.

Currently, a squad that had received this command was galloping across the plains, fully armed, heading towards the devastated village.

The warrior leading them urged his subordinates to hurry.

“Look at that.”

“They said it was poisonous. What a troublesome beast.”

Before their eyes raced the bodies of people and livestock scattered everywhere.

Those who had perished from poison during their escape.

‘That monster!’

Even worse, the creature remained in the village it had destroyed, gluttonously devouring the corpses it had killed.

Fuming, they turned their horses and charged, drawing their bows to fire wildly.

“It… it seems to have no effect!”

However, their ordinary arrows couldn’t pierce the hardened carapace of the Bug that had already consumed many meals and was rapidly growing.

‘What on earth is that thing!?’

As the curled Bug uncoiled and lifted its upper body, the massive centipede was fully revealed, its numerous legs wriggling.

In that desperate situation, what stood out most was what the centipede had been coiled around. Their eyes became filled with wonder at something resembling a black hole.

“It seems it’s guarding that thing.”

One of the soldiers spoke up in disbelief. Just as he said, the centipede was merely watching warily from a distance as they approached.

It showed no intent of leaving its side next to that black hole.

“It must be killed. From ancient times, it’s been said that beasts that eat people should not be left alive.”

Clenching his teeth, he drew his spear. It would be difficult to close the distance, but if the centipede remained, he planned to throw his spear from afar. Surely, the spear thrown with all his strength would have enough power to pierce through thick walls.

“Hah!”

Indeed, his spear flew across the sky and struck the centipede’s thick body with a thud. Though only slightly, it managed to break through the carapace and penetrate inside.

Seeing that, he smiled wryly. If he repeated this several times, the centipede without ranged attacks would surely die in place.

“The wind…”

“T-It’s poison!”

But contrary to their expectations, the moment the wind shifted direction, the centipede spewed out poisonous gas from its mouth, using the wind to attack them.

‘Cough, cough.’

Though the concentration was low, his breath was thrown off for a moment, and he frowned, coughing.

‘Is that really…?’

And through the faint cloud of poison, he was astonished to see countless antennae slowly emerging from the black hole the centipede was guarding.