by Yoo Seong
‘But I wanted to talk to Irina…..’
Ark turned back around.
“Eh?”
She wasn’t there anymore. She had disappeared just like at the charity party.
“W-was she embarrassed? Yes, that must be it. She must be embarrassed.”
Ark thought like that.
“Hey, are you okay? Why are you muttering to yourself in a place like this?”
Mellin approached and asked with strange eyes. Ark blushed as he scratched his head and turned.
“It’s not a big deal. Did things turn out well?”
“Of course. Even if we’re not heroes, we also took part in the victory. Look at this. Isn’t it good? The other members and I received interesting weapons.”
Mellin tapped the machine gun on his shoulder and laughed. It wasn’t just Mellin. While the Royal Guards didn’t receive the Hero title, they received rewards according to their achievements. Of course, they were prisoners so they wouldn’t receive rewards for the achievements left over after they were pardoned. However, Ark made a deal with Marquis Martin for the detachment to be treated like regular troops. Therefore the Royal Guards and Silver Hand were able to receive awards corresponding with their achievements. Now the Royal Guards were carrying new equipment. The equipment were all visibly magic items!
“This is all thanks to you.”
“Yes, we were pardoned and even received new equipment thanks to you!”
The crew burst out around him. If this was the usual Ark…..
“Is that right? It is thanks to me? I’m thankful for those words……”
He would try to get something for it. But now wasn’t the time. Ark had grander goals than some petty cash.
“The items? Is it all under control?”
“Well, Leader Clem knew the owner of the store so we got a decent price for it. It added up to 17,400 gold once everything was sold. I’ve never seen or touched so much gold before. My hands trembled while holding it. It isn’t good for my heart so you should receive it quickly.”
Mellin passed him a heavy purse. This was the money from disposing of all the items they picked up from the pyramid and the Rama base. The total was 17,400 gold! Of course, that money didn’t belong to Ark alone. The proceeds were evenly split up among the 30 members of the Royal Guards and Silver Hand. Of course, Ark had already filled up his bag before the detachment joined him. This was Ark’s personal income. After calculating his personal income, Ark ended up receiving 1,160 gold. 16,800 gold remaining after subtracting Ark’s personal income. This was then split among Ark, the Silver Hand and the Royal Guards. 16,800 ÷ 30 = 560! That was 560 gold per person.
‘17,400 gold seemed like a huge amount but now it is split between 30 people.’
But they also received compensation from the federation and new weapons so it was a type of bonus. Each member received a bonus of 560 gold. Ark also took 1,160 gold so he couldn’t complain.
‘The combined amount is still insufficient!’
17,400 gold was insufficient if Ark wanted his plan to proceed. This was the reason the members hadn’t divided the proceeds and handed it all to Ark. He would now explain his plan……
In fact, Ark had half forgotten about Lucifer while on Beltana. He had to stop it of course but there were other users taking part in the government’s ‘Lucifer obstruction plan.’ But he had changed his mind while wandering around Beltana. The real estate slump in the Taek Mountain area! Ark thought it was highly likely that Lucifer was behind it. Ark was still a common person despite being a legendary gamer. He hadn’t really felt anything about the country’s crisis but now he was impatient
Ark had realized what an important issue it was.
‘But how can I stop Lucifer?’
Ark hadn’t thought about it deeply until then. Of course, there was the condition that Lucifer proposed.
–The first person to achieve the ultimate goal in Galaxian will win.
……He didn’t know what that meant. Galaxian was an online game. Each game had different endings. So there was no way to know what the ultimate goal was. The game publisher of Galaxian, Successful Future hadn’t released the ultimate goal to the public.
‘The ultimate goal in Galaxian…..is it to become the strongest warrior? Or to reach the highest position in the galaxy? Perhaps pioneering the most planets? Or maybe finding an amazing item?’
He thought of various things but the answer wasn’t clear. But there was one obvious thing.
‘I don’t know what Lucifer considers the ultimate goal but there is one way to reach the target first. I have to become stronger than Lucifer!’
However, Galaxian was an online game. Numerous users were competing to reach the goal. In such a game, a user couldn’t just rely on individual strength. The ability of an organization was inevitably required. He needed an organization filled with users and NPCs to help him. That was the conclusion Ark reached. But Ark decided to narrow it down to two goals. The first thing was the growth and support of his organization.
‘And the starting point of my organization……’
Needless to say, it was the Royal Guards. The idea of his organization was based on the Royal Guards. It was thanks to this idea that Ark gathered the Royal Guards together. An opportunity to meet NPCs in the game that would sacrifice their lives for him was uncommon. And unlike other online games, some NPCs in Galaxian could resurrect. The Royal Guards were those NPCs. He could treat his subordinates like users. In fact, Ark had planned to execute it in the far future when he first thought about it. However, now he was the hero of Beltana.
+ Your status rise gives you the right to manage private businesses.
A 1st class citizen had the right to operate a business!
‘A private business! In other words, I can own my own business like Tori. If I have a registered business then I can be a sponsor!’
This was why Ark snubbed the scouting offers of the 4 large businesses. If he created a business then his organization would have a direct goal. However, this plan had a crucial issue.
“Money! Money! Gold!”
This was part of setting up any business. It required a colossal amount of funds. However, most of the money Ark earned in reality was tied up in real estate. He couldn’t invest in a business in the game. So Ark lowered his goal for a little bit.
‘Yes, I shouldn’t become too greedy. Even if my funds aren’t tied up in real estate, it is too risky to build a company. I’ll start with becoming a mercenary organization like the Silver Hand for the moment. If I purchase the agent rights from the government then I don’t need to buy a building.’
But the price of an agent registration certificate wasn’t cheap. It was tens of thousands of gold! Ark only received 1,160 gold after the payout. This was why most users never thought of creating an establishment and looked for a sponsor. The agent right was necessary to establish an organization and most users couldn’t afford that amount. However, an organization was essential to Ark so he had no choice. So he devised one method.
“You are now free. But I still want to be with you guys forever.”
“Of course! We will follow Hyung-nim until we die!”
“Thank you. But our current situation is limited. We’ve truly become colleagues who faced death together so I want to make it official. After much deliberation, I decided to make our own organization. Of course, building a decent business right now is realistically impossible. But it is different if we become a mercenary company like the Silver Hand. The money needed to buy an agent registration certificate is large but if we join forces then I think it is possible. Then you will become a founding member with a stake in the organization.”
This was the method that Ark thought of. It was collecting member from the Royal Guards under the pretext of ‘establishment funds.’
’10 NPCs together should make a fast profit.’
There was no opposition. Ark’s agenda unanimously passed. The income they earned from Beltana
was added to the ‘establishment funds.’ There was one question. The spoils from Beltana were shared between the members of the detachment. Based on the number of people, the Silver Hand had received approximately 60% of the total income. However, just then Mellin had handed all the money to him. The reason why……
“Leader Clem-nim, please take care of my younger brothers.”
“Understood. We will make them work to make up the amount of shares originally belonging to us that we gave to you.”
Clem laughed and looked at the members of the Royal Guards. This was why the income from Beltana entered Ark’s pocket. In the past Ark got a job with the Silver Hand because of Tori and he got the Royal Guards the same job. However, this wasn’t just to finance the business.
‘The Silver Hand has more experience and better skills than the Royal Guards. They grew just from a few days together on Beltana so they will noticeably improve when hunting with the Silver Hand. Besides, now it is possible to receive thousands of gold.’
It was a plan to eat pheasant and egg. Clem also knew Ark’s expectations.
“Really, using a tactic to use a rival group to raise your subordinates while earning money. You shameless guy.”
But Clem accepted Ark’s proposal without any complaints. In the meantime he had steadily raised his favour with them.
“Now we have to separate for a while.”
Ark summarized the general situation and said. Hegel sent him a regretful look and carefully said.
“What will Hyung-nim be doing in the meantime?”
“Me?”
Ark turned his head as he suddenly remembered. After being lost in thought for a while, he sighed and muttered.
“I’m going to sell my body.”
Space 3
Incomplete Quest x3
‘I’ve received the body coating!’
He’ll explain it once again. Istana was the capital planet of the galactic federation. Some planets in the galaxy were frozen lumps, thousands of degrees hot or filled with deadly gas. Therefore those planets weren’t suitable to live on for humans. When looking at it from the galaxy’s perspective, humans were a fragile species. If the temperature changed even a little bit then they would die like the fragile flowers in greenhouses. This was why humans had to develop environmental modification techniques when settling on planets thousands of light years away from earth. This was Terraforming. However, even Istana that was considered the heart of the federation was only 10% terraformed. The remaining 90% was still like it had been for billions of years. Pioneers risked their lives in this unknown world. In order to adapt to the harsh space environment, pioneers were given the privilege of combining their DNA with aliens to increase their bodies to the limit. They would only truly be called a pioneer once they received the body coating from Istana. Ark could now obtain that qualification.
‘I got 3 bonus skills!’
He obtained 3 different skills from the Survivor body coating. But there were too many ambiguous points for him to blindly rejoice. It was difficult to calculate how useful the skills would be in an actual fight by just reading the description. His shoulder shook from the urge to run outside and test the newly learnt skills. Any user would feel like that. However…..
“As I mentioned before, Beltana’s victory wasn’t achieved by myself. There was a commander who believe in me and colleagues who risked their lives fighting. Even now a large number of federation soldiers are confronting the Rama. They are the people who deserve to be called true heroes.”
“I have a question!”
“I heard that you were the Rama’s prisoner in an interview the other day.”
“Did you encounter any harsh actions?”
“Harsh actions…..of course there were. It was only for a short time but I had to endure some difficult pain. But I think it was a valuable experience. Before entering that battlefield, I thought there might be a way to coexist with the Rama. I soon realized over time that the Rama isn’t a species were can coexist with. They don’t acknowledge us as a species. Therefore it isn’t an exaggeration to say the humanity is at stake with this war.”
“What do you think about the 3rd alien alliance, the Aschulat?”
“Currently the federation is having a hard fight in the Bellin constellation because the Aschulat didn’t keep their promise to help us and withdrew from the battlefield. Many people are blaming the galactic federation’s diplomatic power. What does Ark-nim think?”
“That…..”
“This isn’t a question that he can answer on the spot.”
A middle age man jumped in when Ark hesitated.
“There will soon be an official announcement from the galactic federation about that question.”
“Then we’ll ask other questions.”
“Ark-nim became a war hero after you were conscripted and sent to the disputed planet as a prisoner. But there are a lot of opinions that prisoners dispatched to the battlefield aren’t guaranteed the basic human rights. What do you think?”
“There will also be an official announcement about that issue.”
The man interrupting the reporters was Marquis Martin.
“As everybody knows, Ark has been touring around various cities. Moreover, Ark just returned from a fierce battlefield a while ago. Even a war hero won’t be able to withstand such an unreasonable schedule. So I would like to give him some rest. We wouldn’t want a war hero to die from overwork.”
Marquis Martin laughed and looked at Ark. But Ark’s mood was unpleasant.
‘He is as cunning as a raccoon. His mouth talks a great game.’
Ark bit his lip to stop himself from glaring at Marquis Martin. Once again, Ark only got the body coating four months after starting the game. Right now he wanted to test the bonus skills received. It was inevitably that he would want to go to the hunting ground. However, Ark couldn’t get near the hunting grounds despite returning from Beltana for several days. This was due to his deal with Marquis Martin.
“I will accept your conditions. For you and the prisoners who follow you. The Silver Hand won’t be punished for going AWOL and I promise that all of you will get the same compensation as regular troops. But I have one condition.”
“Condition?”
“Of course. Because a deal involves give or take.”
He won the war! What more did he want? He wanted to exclaim but he firmly resisted. If he made a high ranking NPC angry then he might not get the compensation.
“I want you to travel with me once we return to Istana for a few days.”
Ark listened with a half stunned and half worried expression.
“Huh? You want me to travel with you?”
“You are a hero. No, soon you will be made into a hero. It is a bit irregular but do you know what it means that a prisoner achieved such merits on the battlefield?”
Of course Ark was familiar with this. The Aschulat were absent from the battlefield so the federation struggled. The public supported them once the war started but started criticizing them once the situation deteriorated. A war hero was the best way to take care of this criticism. The public would be more interested in the war hero than the situation on the battlefield. The galactic federation didn’t care who it was. They just needed someone. They wanted Valencia who was a regular soldier but he stole Ark’s Carrier MR-II data and there was the gold corruption scandal. They couldn’t hid Ark’s success thanks to the videos uploaded onto the internet so Ark became Valencia’s replacement
In other words, Ark became the galactic federation’s promotional hero. Marquis Martin knew this and clamoured.
“Yes, you are a promotional hero. And repetition is important in propaganda. One interview would have no meaning. Regular communication with the media is needed to turn around the public opinion. Anyway, you’ve suffered quite a bit on the battlefield for two months so you should rest.”
Ark eventually accepted the offer. That’s why Ark said he was selling his body. At first he didn’t
mind Marquis Martin’s offer. He had no room to rest while trying to obtain the Iridium and then he was chased by the Rama. In reality, he also needed to deal with his duties with Global Exos. But the main problem was the real estate land in the Taek Mountains.
‘Taking a couple of days off to act as the federation’s billboard might be nice. Doing some interviews for the compensation isn’t that bad.’
That was a mistake.
‘What? Did I really think I could relax?’
It had been a few days since he returned from Beltana. Ark was dragged to each broadcasting company to do dozens of boring interviews as well as government related events. Once again, Ark was the galactic federation’s promotional hero. Every time he did an interview, he was forced to praise the galactic federation. No, these things weren’t that bad. It was the parades that he couldn’t bear. He had the title of ‘Beltana’s Hero’ and was forced to travel around to different cities. The curses from the users flowed every time……
Anyway, Marquis Martin’s words about a break were false. Once an interview ended, he would move on to another interview and another event. Since returning to Istana, his schedule was as murderous as an idol. The chores piled up and fatigue also piled up.
“He doesn’t want a war hero to die from overwork?”
Marquis Martin’s words were a joke. But Ark steadily assimilated to the schedule. The development of a country wasn’t infinite. Although he started this because of the contract with Marquis Martin, Ark also gained some things from it. The first thing was awareness!
“This interview is finished.”
Marquis Martin cleaned up the atmosphere and got up.
-You have appeared on a galaxy broadcast and became more famous.
The message appeared on his Nymphe. If he participated in interviews and events then his fame would increase.
-You have helped reformed the galactic federation’s image through your diligent publicity campaign.
He could also raise his contribution to the galactic federation by giving a speech. In fact, previously Ark had no interest in fame and contribution. Well, he had been a criminal so he didn’t need to worry about fame or contribution on the battlefield……
