Ark

Volume 23 5

ACT 5 Save Nagaran’s Restoration Funds

It had taken 10 days to prevent Alan’s plan. He had invested a tremendous amount of time, money and effort into Silvana.

Hyun-woo disappeared into his room and barely slept as he tried to save Silvana. Therefore Hyun-woo only slept an average of two hours for 10 days. All his tension was released after the Hell River was sealed and he slept like the dead. But his sleep wasn’t comfortable.

“Waaaaahhhhh!”

“Fight. Do whatever it takes to save Nagaran!”

Kwa kwa kwa kwang, kwa kwa kwa kwang!

The intense battle situations which caused him a lot of stress replayed over and over in Hyun-woo’s head while he was sleeping. Screams and the sound of metal clashing had been ringing in his ears nonstop for the last 10 days. How long did he sleep?

Diririri, diririri.

He finally stirred as the shouts changed to a familiar ringing sound. Hyun-woo who was wandering the land of dreams heard the sound of the phone ringing.

“Ohhhh, what bastard.....? I don’t know, I don’t know. I don’t care even if the world is going to be destroyed today!”

Hyun-woo who had fallen asleep within the unit angrily snapped. The phone disconnected after a short time. But the moment Hyun-woo tried to sleep again, the phone once again began to noisily ring.

“Dammit!”

Eventually Hyun-woo cursed and got up. And he picked up the phone.

“Oh, Hyun-woo?”

“Jjak-tung hyung?”

“Yes, it’s me.”

“Why do you keep on calling in the morning?”

“What are you saying? This is the first time...... Were you sleeping?”

“...... I was sleeping. Hyung-nim woke me up before. I’m going to hang up and go back to sleep.”

Hyun-woo declared with a 120% petulant voice. Then Jjak-tung said.

“You can sleep later. The internet has been overturned!”

“Why should I care that the internet has been overturned?”

“Of course you should care! You are the culprit.”

“What are you saying out of nowhere? What did I do?”

“There’s no need to worry. Just connect to the internet immediately and search for the name Ark. Then you’ll know.”

Hyun-woo frowned and scratched his head after hearing Jjak-tung’s words. Hyun-woo had just woken up and he was still tired so he couldn’t understand what Jjak-tung was saying. But something must’ve happened judging from Jjak-tung’s excitement. Hyun-woo turned on his computer and accessed the internet. And he typed in ‘Ark’ in the search engine. Hyun-woo looked at his monitor with an astonished expression before stuttering.

“W-what is this?”

“Are you wondering what is going on? Everybody is talking about you!”

“Oh my god.....”

Hyun-woo moaned as he finally realized the situation. Hyun-woo was shocked by the contents of his computer screen. There were 14,680 results when he searched for ‘Ark’. The hero who saved Nagaran from 100,000 demons! Shortly after the battle of Nagaran finished, Hyun-woo quickly became famous. Previously Hyun-woo had used a different name when doing anything on a large scale. Yet the number of Nagaran’s allied forces who participated in the battle was 60,000. In other words, 60,000 users had entered the battle with Hyun-woo and the 60,000 started talking about their experiences. And the story became a little.....no, a huge exaggeration.

-.......Ark directly commanded the troops and stopped the demons’ attacks. In fact, more than half the rumours about Ark had been inflated. It was to the extent that it made him feel lacking. Ark-nim treated the demons lightly and always fearlessly plunged behind enemy lines......

(Fact: It was to pick up the loot that Radun couldn’t.)

-...... Ark-nim grasped my hand and said. ‘If we give up here then we’re just soldiers. If we don’t give up then we’re heroes.’ After listening to his words, an incredible power rose in my body......

(Fact: don’t be mistaken. The power was just the effect from Nursing.)

-......We advanced all the way to Silvana but I almost gave up after hearing that they had already invaded deep into the secret dungeon. But Ark-nim carried out a complex operation using his summons and managed to transport us to the 60th floor of the secret dungeon. I had goose bumps after listening to the explanation of the operation. And managing to stop 10,000 troops with just 2,000......

(This was true but the description of the battle made it seem like a hero movie.)

........Anyway, Hyun-woo was a hero on the internet. In fact, if it was just this level then it would’ve been good. Hyun-woo’s face turned red as there were a few sentences he couldn’t bear to read at all. There were thousands of different types of posts flying around the internet. Ark’s fighting is so intense that one slap on the cheek from him would be enough to slap the life back in someone, his strategy is so good that it would pull the moustache of Zhuge Liang, he is willing to risk his life for his colleagues, etc.....

“What on earth? This Ark?”

Hyun-woo asked as he read the posts.

“Hehehe, I don’t understand either. Anyway, you’re a star! A star!”

Jjak-tung giggled and said. He fell asleep completely normally and when he woke up, he was a ‘star. It was only 11 a.m. when he checked the clock. Hyun-woo had sealed the Hell River at 3 a.m. so it was 7 hours since he passed out. 14,680 posts had been published during that 7 hours. He couldn’t imagine how many more posts would appear. When it was to this extent, there were no users in New World who wouldn’t know Ark’s name. Just like in the past, people also knew the name of famous pro Starcraft gamers.

‘Fuck!’

That was the first word that surfaced in Hyun-woo’s mind. Once again, Hyun-woo didn’t like drawing the attention of so many people. There were a number of reasons but the biggest one was that he would keep on being interrupted in the game. If he was famous then a lot of eyes and ears would concentrate on him. Then a lot of people would approach him in the game and waste his time. It would be a huge inconvenience for Hyun-woo. If that happened then it would be difficult to engage in business comfortable like he was now. If Hyun-woo slipped even just a little bit then it would become gossip on the internet. But was that all? He would soon become the target of jealousy and envy. While the impact of the Nagaran battle was huge right now and Hyun-woo was treated as a hero, there was no guarantee how long that would last. And people would start criticizing the hero for various actions taken. Didn’t Alan also walk that that dismal road?

‘It is best to be inconspicuous.’

That was Hyun-woo’s ideal game style. It was why Hyun-woo always broadcasted videos as Dark Wolf. But this time Dark Wolf wasn’t the one who saved Silvana. He had revealed to the 60,000 allied forces that Silvana’s Lord and Dark Wolf was the same person so Ark’s existence was revealed to the world.

‘Damn, I was too worried about Silvana that I didn’t pay any attention to this part.’

However, there was no way to stop it from happening. If he didn’t want to be slandered on the internet then he would have to act as a ‘good guy’ from now on. If he made even the smallest mistake then he might be labelled as a public enemy. And become a public enemy would make it difficult to play the game normally. He had to avoid that situation at all costs! Once again, Hyun-woo earned a considerable amount of his livelihood from New World.

‘I should’ve thought about this part before I gathered the Nagaran allied forces!’

Hyun-woo belatedly regretted his actions.

Diririri, diririri.

The phone rang again as soon as Jjak-tung hung up. The voice of a middle aged man was heard when he picked up the phone.

“Ark-nim, you’ve finally picked up.”

“Who.....?”

“I am the PD of the game exclusive news, Lee Yun-gyu!”

Hyun-woo looked doubtful as he heard the words. If it was the PD of the game exclusive news then of course he knew him.

After defending Lancel village against Jewel’s group, he had signed an exclusive contract with him for Hyun-woo’s videos. Hyun-woo was confused because the contract had already ended a while ago after sending 8 videos.

“I called you because I wanted to renegotiate the contract.”

“Renegotiate?”

“Yes, the edited videos that Ark-nim sent to the game exclusive news has been received quite well. Thanks to a lot of requests, the broadcasting station has decided to organize a ‘Dark Wolf’s Adventures season 2’.”

“Dark Wolf Adventures season 2?”

Hyun-woo’s eyes shone at Lee Yun-gyu’s words. He meant there was another chance for Hyun-woo to sell his videos to the broadcasting station? Hyun-woo’s previous contract gave him a copyright fee of 2.5 million won. In the past two months, he had secured a fixed income of 25 million won for 10 videos. With the name Ark now well known, he had been worrying about how to earn money in the future. But now the station called asking to renew the contract? His mind was still dull and sleepy. Yet Hyun-woo had to organize his thoughts as soon as he woke up.

“The reaction to the previous videos was quite good so I will give a copyright fee of 3 million won per video this time. The video of Nagaran’s defense will also have a special broadcast. The copyright fee for that video will be a separate 10 million won. Global Exos has already assented so we just need Ark-nim’s agreement for the contract.”

Lee Yun-gyu hurriedly said. Hyun-woo’s mouth dropped open. 3 million won for 10 videos would be 30 million won!

And the video of Nagaran’s defense was 10 million won! If he simply sent in videos then he could earn 40 million won in two months.

‘What kind of luck is this?’

Hyun-woo was about to give the OK sign without thinking. Then Hyun-woo realized that something was strange.

‘We’re the ratings of ‘Dark Wolf’s Adventures’ really that good?’

Hyun-woo never heard those words during the two months it was broadcasted. To be exact, Dark Wolf’s Adventure was like a bungle for the game exclusive news. The game exclusive news had spent 2 weeks collected and putting together the videos Hyun-woo sent. But by the time it was broadcasted, the Demonic War had begun. So the interest of the audience was concentrated on the demonic war. Of course, Hyun-woo also entered the Demonic War but there were thousands of videos about it so Hyun-woo’s videos weren’t that interesting. There was only a surge in ratings when Hyun-woo released the video related to information about the Hell River from Shangri-La.

‘Yet they’re planning season 2 and will even give an extra 500,000 won as a copyright fee?’

After thinking about it, questions would naturally rise. The broadcasting station wouldn’t do that without a good reason.

‘Something is fishy......?’

Hyun-woo was immersed in his thoughts until the image of the computer screen floated in his head. He had gained 14,680 posts in just 7 hours!

‘Yes, that’s what it is.’

Hyun-woo was beginning to wake up and started to understand the circumstances. That’s right. He didn’t know what would happen later but Ark’s fame in New World was currently at its peak! Thanks to 60,000 people spreading the words on the internet, there wouldn’t be anyone in New World who didn’t know Ark’s name. And the place that would be most responsive to that interest is the broadcasting station! Hyun-woo started to understand why the broadcasting station was offering a higher copyright fee. Of course, there were 60,000 people who entered the battle to defend Nagaran. There would also be a lot of related videos. But Hyun-woo was the commander of the battlefield so his videos would naturally be different. The audience rating would explode even if there was only one advertisement stating that ‘Ark took the video directly.’ That’s why the station wanted to produce Dark Wolf’s Adventures season 2.

‘That’s right. Then the phone that rang before Jjak-tung hyung......’

The broadcasting station must’ve been the one calling. They were calling without any breaks to prevent other broadcasting stations from reaching him first. Hyun-woo completely woke up and thoughts began to turn over in his head.

‘Then that changes things.’

That’s right. If the broadcasting station were desperate to buy the video from Hyun-woo then the situation would change by 180 degrees. There was no reason for Hyun-woo to contract with the game exclusive news.

‘But won’t I make a lot of profit if I contract with the game exclusive news?’

There was a reason Hyun-woo should contract with the game exclusive news. The game exclusive news was known as the broadcasting program that supported Dark Wolf completely. If Hyun-woo became a hero and then suddenly went to another broadcasting station then the audience would treat him coldly. That was why the game exclusive news impatiently tried to call him. It was in order to defend the image of the station and prevent other stations from getting their hands on the videos. Hyun-woo was the valuable thing. Then it would be easy to maximize his profits. This chance might never come again. If the users’ admiration changed to jealousy then they might not watch Hyun-woo’s videos that were being broadcasted. Then it was better to raise it as much as possible while he could!

“Let’s see? The offer is appreciated but I’m quite busy these days so it is hard to give a definite answer.”

Hyun-woo tried a little fishing (?).

“Have you already been contacted by another broadcasting station?”

“Huh? No, t-that’s not......”

Hyun-woo deliberately stuttered. Lee Yun-gyu immediately grabbed the bait.

“I understand. Can you wait a moment without hanging up?”

Lee Yun-gyu put the phone on standby and disappeared somewhere. After being on hold for 3~4 minutes, he once again heard Lee Yun-gyu’s voice.

“I just consulted with the broadcasting station chief. We will pay 15 million won for the Nagaran defense video. And Dark Wolf’s Adventures season 2 will be a 10 part video, each 10 minutes long. We will pay 4 million won for each video. No other broadcasting station will offer a higher price. How about it?”

Hyun-woo felt his heart jump after hearing Lee Yun-gyu’s words.

‘1 video for 15 million won and 10 x 4 million is 40 million won. That is a total of 55 million won!’

The first amount that the game exclusive news offered was 40 million won. If he hadn’t received Jjak-tung’s call first then he wouldn’t have realized the situation and would’ve lost 15 million won.

‘What? I might’ve settled for 40 million won?’

He felt furious just thinking about it. And this was a long-awaited change to raise the price a bit more. But Hyun-woo soon shook his head. It was clear that Lee Yun-gyu already had a grasp on how much the other broadcasting stations would offer. Then 55 million won was the highest amount the game exclusive news would give. When taken into account the other broadcasting stations, the game exclusive news offered the highest copyright fees of all the stations. If he became even greedier and refused the price for the video then he might have to accept a lesser price from other broadcasting stations. When engaging in business, he had to know when to push and when to back off.

“I understand. I’ll accept that price. Do I have to go to the broadcasting station?”

“The recorded contents of this call will be the contract agreement for now. You can come to the broadcasting station whenever it is convenient to sign the written contract.”

“Yes.”

Hyun-woo calmly hung up the call while inwardly he was jumping with excitement.

‘Having my fame soar isn’t that bad. No, in the meantime I have only been thinking that it wasn’t good. If I’m the focus of the players then it wouldn’t be as easy to trade as before. But there is also a way to trade using my fame.’

Hyun-woo looked at this situation in a new light after talking to the game exclusive news. Therefore he woke up and connected to New World with an excited feeling.

———————————————————————————————————-

“Hah......”

A sigh naturally emerged from Ark’s mouth. Ark was the hero who organized an unprecedented scale of allied forces and defeated 100,000 demons!

Thanks to his accomplishments in New World, Ark managed to get fame and wealth at the same time in reality. However, when he entered New World a gloomy reality awaited him.

<Due to the destruction, the effort will stop until it is reconstructed>

?Cathedral’s Support? Resident’s loyalty +10%, Resident’s Bond +10%

<Due to the destruction, the effort will stop until it is reconstructed>

?Mercenary’s Office?The number of mercenaries that can be hired by the estate increases. In addition, if the estate hires mercenaries from the Mercenary’s Office then the costs will be reduced based on the rating.

<Due to the destruction, the effort will stop until it is reconstructed>

-Some farmland has become impoverished and the income of the territory has sharply decreased. (? Falling)

-Some houses have been destroyed so the public sentiment of the residents who lost their homes will be rough. Hurry and prepare shelter and jobs for the residents of the number of inhabitants will suddenly plummet.

“This is the current situation of the territory.”

An NPC showed him a thick pile of documents. The one handing him these documents was Rokon, the son of his former assistant Berami Alan had used the Rwigenberg to invade Nagaran and Silvana with the demons. While most of the residents of the territory were able to escape without large damages, the NPCs and civil servants staying that Silvana castle were wiped out. Therefore Ark had thought Silvana would be empty. But when he arrived at Silvana, there were surprisingly a lot of civil servants handling the task. They were the children of the NPCs that had died. In New World, NPCs with the ability to run the territory were essential. He once again realized that this was an online game no matter how real it felt. However, not all of the empty NPC seats were automatically filled. While the essential seats such as advisor were filled, others remained empty. Anyway, thanks to that Ark was about to confirm Silvana’s situation as soon as he connected.

“As you can see, the current situation is very serious. Fortunately the demons concentrated on the castle so many residents escaped but they are still trembling in fear. In addition, many facilities have been destroyed by the battle between the demons and the allied forces. There are many problems but the most urgent one is food. This is supposed to be the time of the spring harvest......”

The business like voice of the assistant Rokon droned into his ear.

‘Looking at the figures, the damage is less than I expected.’

Ark stopped listening to Rokon and looked out the window at his territory. After hearing that Alan had occupied Silvana, he had expected Silvana to be turned to ash. However, the actual damage wasn’t that serious. Other than the area where the allied forces and demons fought, there was almost no damage to the territory.

‘It is fortunate that Alan’s purpose was to flood the Hell River.’

That’s right. There was a reason for this. If Alan’s purpose was revenge against Ark then he would’ve destroyed Silvana so much that it would’ve been impossible for Silvana to be occupied again. But Alan’s purpose was to flood the Hell River so that was the only thing he concentrated on. If the Hell River flood then Silvana and of course Nagaran would disappear. So there was no need to have the demons purposely destroy Silvana. That’s why Silvana wasn’t destroyed even after the demons occupied it for 10 days. But as expected the development, commerce, civilization, armament, etc.....all of the figures related to the territory development had a drop of 20~30%.

‘But.......’

It was clear that he still received damage. How much had Ark suffered in order to develop the territory? Ark had captured Silvana 1 year and 6 months after the Hermes guild occupied it and he had used all of his secret funds to develop the estate. An astronomical amount of money was invested into it. But those efforts were wasted. The information window said that the territory was C ranked, but if he didn’t improve the falling values within a month then it would fall to a D rank. Of course, due to the Demonic War all administration related to Nagaran had been halted. However, if the rating fell and the territory’s financial deficit would affect the Lord’s salary. That was 6,000 gold in 10 days. It meant the monthly income of 18,000 gold had been paused. And this was deadly for a coalition that only had 4,000 people.

‘Well, the main problem is that the coalition consists of 1,500 NPCs from the beast clan and the Eastern Nation.’

An NPC alliance was different from a user alliance. Ark had to pay the coalition a monthly salary of 2,000 gold every 10 days. That meant Ark needed 6,000 gold every month to maintain the coalition.

‘I would like to discard it but......’

If the NPCs in the coalition were fired than the relationship with the raccoons and Eastern Nation might be aggravated.

If that happened then it would cause problems with Seutandal and the Underground World, and might even affect the supply of munitions. This was the reason why Ark was concerned about the NPCs when the Hell River flooded. If the NPCs that Ark hired were killed then he would have to pay thousands of gold as compensation. Fortunately, all the NPCs had hid in the closed off room on the 60th floor and were rescued with almost no casualties. But now the maintenance fee was the problem.

‘Anyway, I’ve avoided the worst situation where the military supplies were affected. With the income from that then I can hold on for several months.’

The problem wasn’t the immediate loss. This problem wasn’t one that would improve in several months. Once again, quite a few farmland and facilities had been destroyed in Silvana. It wasn’t simply that they were destroyed. It meant a lot of residents on the territory lost their jobs and homes. The income of the territory was also subject to taxes. Yet the residents of the territory had lost their jobs. In that situation, the residents wouldn’t be able to pay the taxes and would have to claim the unemployment benefits. However, Silvana only had 3,700 gold remaining. It wasn’t enough to help the 7,000 victims. It also wasn’t enough to restore the farmland and the destroyed facilities.

“They’ve become impoverished and lost their houses so the residents’ public sentiment is low. In this situation, the territory would become violent and prone to plunder. However, most of the soldiers stationed in the territory have died in battle so it isn’t easy to maintain public security. Swift action is required.”

Rokon explained the situation. Ark was also worried about that part. He couldn’t collect taxes from residents without a job. Without jobs then the residents couldn’t pay taxes. It was a vicious cycle......If it continued then the residents would eventually riot. It was indeed a death flag. If he proceeded like this then there was no way for the territory to recover. There was only one way to solve this problem.

‘Money......’

That’s right. Whether it was a game or reality, the only thing that mattered in the end was money.

If he used the money to restore the businesses then the residents could get jobs. If the residents got jobs then it was possible to pay taxes. If taxed were restored then it was possible to invest in more businesses and restore more jobs. The residents would return to the territory and Silvana could continue developing like before.

“Rokon, what is the most urgent problem right now?”

“The restoration of the reservoir and the farming facilities. If they are restored then we can supply jobs to residents and reduce the burden of a food problem.”

“The amount of funds necessary?”

“At least a minimum of 300,000 gold is required.”

“300,000 gold......”

Ark felt breathless as his jaw dropped. Currently Silvana had no money at all. In the end, Ark had no choice but to obtain the funds required to repair the territory from outside. However, at the moment Ark already had trouble obtaining the money required to pay the coalition members. How could he manage to gain 300,000 gold?

“There’s only one way I can get that type of money.”

Ark murmured as he thought out loud. Then Rokon seemed to sense what he was thinking.

“...... Investment?”

In fact, Silvana had the concept of investments. In other words, he could receive investments from users and NPCs in order to finance the development of the territory. Of course, all the money received would be the territory’s public funds. After a certain period of time had passed, those who invested would be able to get dividends from their investment. If he used such a system that the territory could receive the necessary development and the investors could safely receive profit. But he didn’t have any investors that he could recruit. If they invested in the territory then they could safely make money. So if he wanted people to invest then they needed to get some benefits. That’s right. It was similar to the benefits that the coalition members received after they invested in the estate.

‘But the coalition and Dark Eden has already invested most of their funds.’

That’s right. It was the special privilege of the coalition members! And not long ago, Silvana had been quickly developing.

How could the coalition members and Dark Eden give up such privileges? Therefore Ark and the coalition had already reached the limit of how much they could invest. But now Silvana was broke. The dissatisfied complaints from the coalition members who invested in it were enough to give him a headache. In the end, he could only procure foreign investment. However......

“It isn’t a few gold but 300,000 gold. Even if 300,000 pours in, the territory still won’t be completely recovered. It won’t be easy to find people willing to invest in the territory.”

Rokon replied in a sceptical voice.

......That was the problem. If Silvana grew without any problems then he could even get 1 million gold as investment. However, Silvana was an estate where riots could occur at any moment. Even if the demons were driven away, there was no telling if they would return. And if Silvana was ruined that all that invested money would fly away. No user would be willing to invest in such an insecure territory.

‘There’s also a limit. Individuals can only invest a maximum of 100 gold into the territory. If everybody paid the necessary amount then I would needed at least a minimum of 3,000 investors.’

Currently Silvana only had 3,700 gold so it wasn’t easy to feed the victims. Even if they ate flour porridge, wouldn’t that only last one week at most? In the end, he needed to secure investments from at least 3,000 people in one week. It was impossible.

‘Do I just have to watch as Silvana perishes?’

He had desperately tried to protect it for 10 days yet the result was like this......

“Dammit!”

Ark slammed his hand on the desk. Then a piece of paper fell from the piled up documents. The document that fell had 317,000 gold written on it.

‘What the? 317, 100 gold?’

Currently he had turned Silvana upside down and there was no more money. So what was the amount stated on the paper? Had he forgotten a possible source of money? Ark picked up the document with that thought in his mind. But he soon became disappointed as he read the contents of the document.

“Ah, damn. I forgot about this. The number just has to be 317,000 gold? Having this dangled in my face. If only I could invest it in Silvana......”

Ark flinched and looked back at the document.

“Wait? Maybe.....no, I’ll just have to believe that it will work!”

After thinking for a while, Ark stood up and shouted.

“Rokon, summon all of Nagaran’s lords immediately!”

After a while......

Buzz, buzz.

Inside a conference room in Silvana castle. Users were gathered and talking noisily. They were the 11 lords of Nagaran. The reason why Ark summoned them was because of the paper he found in his office. This was the present state of the amount of munitions each alliance used in defending Nagaran.

The 5,200 Golden Cross alliance members from Beiku territory (Military provisions and basic equipment): 26,000 gold

“The 4,900 Union alliance members from Gurana territory (Military Provisions and basic supplies): 24,500 gold.....

<The total cost of munitions that 63,420 people from the 12 territories: 317, 100 gold>

It was the cost of munitions that the allied forces used in this war. The reason that Ark investigated this was simple. Before the start of the battle, Ark had asked for help from the Schudenberg Kingdom. But the Schudenberg Kingdom was focused on the Sinius Principality and didn’t dispatch any troops. Instead, they promised to pay for the munitions that Ark used.

Well, the allied forces actually used a lot of military supplied. Generally when recruiting soldiers from each kingdom, a basic distribution of 5 gold per person was given. That’s why the Schudenberg Kingdom said that they would support them. Yet there were 60,000 people and that ended up adding to 317,100 gold! It was a colossal amount. But each individual person in the allied forces is only receiving 5 gold.’

This was the idea that Ark had after seeing the documents. That’s right. While the Schudenberg Kingdom would be paying them more than 300,000 gold, each individual member would only receive 5 gold. And the users had an average level of 350 so 5 gold wasn’t a large amount of money. If he persuaded the allied forces then he could invest the 317,100 gold from the Schudenberg Kingdom into Silvana.

‘I just need to believe. If I can’t receive the 317,100 gold investment then it is the end for Silvana!’

“........So if everyone is willing to help a little bit.”

Ark explained the circumstances and humbly asked with a lowered head. There was no other hole that money could come out of. If he couldn’t gain the money that Silvana would go down the drain. Of course, it wasn’t that easy to receive an investment from the lords of Nagaran. However, this was Ark’s last method. Ark was even prepared to grab the hem of their pants to beg. However......

“I understand.”

“Of course I know the decision isn’t easy. But each individual will only receive 5 gold at most. If you think about.....huh?”

Ark was trying to persuade them when he suddenly raised his head.

“.......What did you say just now?”

“We will listen to Ark-nim and invest.”

“R-really?”

He thought that the lords were assenting too easily. When Ark’s mouth dropped open, Aramis who was the lord of Radon laughed and said.

“We are also lords. We can guess Silvana’s situation just by looking at it. Of course we are competitors but didn’t you risk your life in order to protect Nagaran? That’s why all of the lords have agreed to help Ark-nim.”

“Yes. If it wasn’t for Ark-nim then we would’ve lost our territories.”

“Furthermore, even if the total is 300,000 gold then we will still only receive 5 gold like Ark-nim said.”

“We have to live and help each other.”

The lords smiled as they spoke generously. Ark just looked at them dumbly. Ark naturally expected the lords to reject the investment offer. In other words, he had been trying to think of things to persuade them. Yet they had already decided to help before he even asked for it? Why? They might’ve worked together to protect Nagaran but they were still competitors. If they left it alone then a strong competitor would disappear.

‘If it was me......’

Ark thought inwardly before wincing. And he slowly examined each of their faces. The memory of the past 10 days floated into his head. They had been treated coldly by the NPCs of Schudenberg Kingdom and had to depend on Ark to stop Alan and the demons. They had barely slept and fought against the 100,000 demons for the last 10 days. Of course, they only fought with Ark to protect their territories. However, it wasn’t important why they fought. The important thing was that they fought together! That’s right. Ark was already the leader of the 11 lords, no the 60,000 soldiers! They were fellow soldiers who had desperately struggled with each other for 10 days!

‘......There is no option but to help.’

When he thought about it, that was the only answer. And he felt a strange emotion that he had never experienced in New World before. So far JusticeMan, the rehabilitation members, Roco, etc. were the only users that Ark had interacted with. The other users were divided into two types. The enemy. Or people he could take advantage of. He therefore had no other expectations from the players. He thought that was enough and anymore was unnecessary. But Ark miscalculated.

‘Damn, it’s not that bad?’

That’s right. Someone......the feeling of enjoying the game together with other users wasn’t bad. In this situation, Ark couldn’t reject those feelings. It was no different from the feelings Ark felt when building relationships with NPCs.

“Thank you!”

Ark humbly lowered his head. For the first time since he started New World, Ark truly thanks some users.

Even after all this, Ark never imagined the situation he would experience in Selebrid.