Ark the Legend 1-12
Page 109
“Everyone grab one and follow me!”
Ark led the members to dig in Mt. Fargo.
And…..Pa pa pa pa! Pa pa pa pa!
Ark, Milan and the Royal Guards. The 12 of them started shovelling. Once again, the Royal Guards had shed tears because they weren’t required to receive the Silver Hand’s hell training anymore. Yet those tears tried up after not even one day in S-20. Instead sweat started pouring out!
“Pant pant pant! Pant pant pant!”
All of them were breathing heavily. Ark was the only normal one. Still, this was better than receiving the Silver Hand’s hell training. Their training was so tough they felt like they were always going to die. But they could take breaks with Ark. Ark ate breakfast, connected to the game, dug, ate lunch, dug, dinner, dug, dug, dug until he fell asleep! But he couldn’t complain. Because Ark had a reason for doing it.
“This is our land. We need to save this place with our own hands. You guys have to dig, dig, dig. Every drop of sweat will fertilize S-20! Now, follow me!”
Pa pa pa pa! Pa pa pa pa!
And the shovelling started again. How could the subordinates not obey a boss who was working hard? Even if the Royal Guards’ backs were throbbing with pain, they couldn’t stop shovelling. No, if it was just shovelling then they could withstand it. Mt. Fargo’s caves were teeming with Thanatos! They had to shovel as well as take care of the Thanatos when they came flocking. The members also needed to deal with the Thanatos. The members became battered by the Thanatos every time they penetrated a blocked cave. Then they had to start shovelling again!
‘W-what it this?’
‘I thought I finally escaped from the Silver Hand……’
‘Oh my god! That was 100 times better!’
The members became like zombies after the situation continued for a few days. But the members had some hope. The caves where they were digging weren’t that big. The cave had a round form and was only 5 km large. After 5 days had passed, they were able to clear out all the dirt and sand and opened the cave to traffic.
“W-we did it!”
“The cave is finally in its original state!”
The members who hadn’t seen sunlight for 5 days cheered. However Milan’s expression didn’t change. Milan knew the structure of the caves inside Mt. Fargo. The cave the members took 5 days to clear was just the upper layer. The intermediate layer was many times larger and he couldn’t even grasp the size of the bottom layer. And considering Ark’s nature…..
“Now. Let’s go down to a lower layer!”
Of course he wouldn’t give a break. The Royal Guards finally started to realize it. Meeting Ark again had been their dream. The happy start they imagined soon turned to misery. They had moved from hell to an even worse place! The members would actually rather receive the training from the Silver Hand. But it was too late for regrets. The Royal Guards had no choice but to continue digging.
-Mellin has learnt the
-Hegel has learnt the
The only consolation was the ever increasing skill. And that was also Ark’s happiness.
‘Huhuhu. This is a pretty good?’
The members were going to help Ark fight Lucifer. Ark had been quite nervous about not seeing the members’ growth. That’s why he came up with the training schedule that he gave to the Silver Hand. He had also confirmed their fundamentals on Athamas.
‘My efforts on building the foundation for stamina is starting to show an effect. It has been demonstrated that the Royal Guards are still too low levelled to compete with Lucifer’s subordinates. Now I need to focus on raising their levels.’
That was his thoughts after the fight on Athamas. But right now it was imperative to rebuild the sector. Then the Thanatos showed up every time they penetrated a cave. Ark was glad about being able to do reconstruction work as well as level up. Of course this was incidental. Right now the urgent issue was to restore the sector. S-20 had to develop beyond what it was before. And he had finally cleared the upper layer dungeon.
“Soon I will receive guests.”
He was ready to bring back the pioneers. And the promotion of the newly opened S-20 was already in progress.
—————————————————————————————-
Istana’s central city of Tatuine.
Two men and one lady appeared on a large screen attached to a building. The two men and one lady smiled perkily despite looking like they had no rest. They were Slayer, Leon and Melina who were playing Ark’s promotional role. Leon and Slayer thought they could be famous like Ark.
–I heard that you played a decisive role in leading our forces to victory on Athamas?
–No, that….it is something I wanted to do as a citizen of the federation.
–You’re too humble.
–Doesn’t a rice plant ripen better when it lowers its head? Hat hat hat!
The big screen zoomed in on Slayer laughing like a frog. Then the users watching the screen gave it unpleasant looks.
“What? That guy?”
“He’s unbelievably smug after receiving some achievements.”
……He gained a lot of anti-fans every time he appeared on the screen. However this shameful conduct by Slayer and Leon led to an unexpected effect.
“Sheesh, I can’t believe those guys became heroes.”
“Okay. We should lend our support to Bellin’s battlefield!”
“If those guys could gain attention than the Rama must not be a big deal.”
They started becoming dismissive of the Rama. Therefore the number of pioneers volunteering to go to the battlefield steadily increased. That wasn’t the only effect of Slayer and Leon’s advertising.
“I thought Ark was annoying when he appeared on TV……”
“That’s right, now I actually prefer the blunt Ark. He is better than these smug guys.”
“Those bastards, they should stop promoting at once!”
“Okay, killing Ark is cancelled. Now they are out targets!”
Ark’s anti-fans transferred their attentions to Slayer and Leon. It was an excellent choice picking Slayer and Leon as his promotional billboard. But those were both unexpected effects. Other than his anti-fans switching targets, Ark had a reason for selecting Leon and Slayer as the billboard. That condition was……
–Did you have any last words you wanted to say?
–Well, no……
Slayer and Leon scratched their heads.
Then the silent Melina had quickly jumped in.
–Wait a minute. I wanted to let the people seeing the broadcast know something.
–What is it?
–We were able to build up the achievements thanks to Ark-nim who has received the title of Hero. We got the chance to go to Athamas after accidentally meeting Ark-nim at Mt. Fargo. It received a surprise attack by space pirates and is in ruins. However Ark-nim is currently reconstructing the sector. The probability of monsters dropping gallstones in the dungeon is quite high so it will be useful for any users looking to upgrade their equipment.
This was the condition attached. The promotion of Ark’s sector S-20! Ark had already played the role of the federation’s billboard. He knew how quickly things could spread if promoted properly. The effectiveness of S-20’s promotion was more than he imagined! Pioneers were attracted to S-20 thanks to Ark’s advertising strategy. And the advertising strategy was definitely effective. Users interested in gallstones headed to S-20 from close cities like Tatuine as well as faraway cities like Sidellin. Among those users was ‘him.’
“Ark!”
The blond youth looked up at the screen with complicated eyes. He had received a special pardon for the war on Athamas and was nicknamed Rapid.
“……I finally know where Ark is.”
A corner of his mouth went up. He had been completely disappointed on Athamas. He couldn’t understand why Ark had been defeated so easily by the Red Slaughterer. He felt like he lost the
feeling that was sustaining him. However he learnt after the battle that it wasn’t the real Ark. Ark also played a decisive role in the victory on Athamas.
“Yes, I knew it. It is worthwhile looking for you.”
His enthusiasm was revived. After returning to Istana, he figured out Ark’s location through Slayer, Leon and Melina’s broadcast. The end of his long journey was finally nearing. He still couldn’t clearly explain why he wanted to see Ark. He didn’t know what he wanted to say. But he didn’t worry about that issue anymore.
“I’ll discover it when I meet Ark.”
All the answers would be released from Ark himself. And soon he would meet Ark!
Space 7
Visitors
“It is good that I received S-20.”
He had worried about if for a while. He gave up all the other compensation for the
‘Is it useless?’
He didn’t express it to the members but he was worried about this. However he had already obtained it. And the value of the gallstones inside the dungeon was high enough that he thought it was worth a try. Thus Ark launched the reconstruction work! He mobilized the Royal Guards to dig up and clear out dirt in the upper layer of the cave.
“Excuse me.”
The first visitors appeared in S-20. No, it wasn’t precisely their first visit.
“It really is Ark.”
“I wanted to look since I heard that Ark-nim came back.”
It was Shein, Kuma, Face etc. They were the users who assisted Ark when the Kero clan attacked. They had left for another hunting ground after Mt. Fargo became blocked but came back after hearing that Ark was making a sector here.
“I heard that you’re opening up Mt. Fargo’s dungeon again……”
“Yes, I’m still working on the middle layer but the upper layer has been completely opened.”
“Ohh, is that true?”
“I felt uncomfortable because I couldn’t finish gathering gallstones the other day. Now we can hunt in this sector again. Oh, this is now a sector so I had to pay a fee to use it.”
This was the first income opportunity for S-20! But Ark gracefully shook his head.
“That’s okay. We are fellow soldiers who fought the space pirates together. This might be a sector but how can I charge you money? Don’t pay any attention to the fee. I’m the administrator for S-20 so use it freely.”
“But this won’t be feasible for your livelihood……”
Kuma said as he looked at one of the signposts erected. However Ark shook his head without any hesitation.
“It is sufficient that I met you again.”
That perspective…..the Royal Guards had shed a lot of blood clearing the middle layer of the cave and killing the Thanatos. They had been digging at the dungeon for one week! However Ark had his own ideas. The basic source of revenue for a sector was the admission fee from visitors. The fee was to allow people a place to rest from the monsters of the Outlands. But that was only when it was properly equipped with amenities. A sector needed a terminal for airships, a Fairy to register at and shops selling various goods. Pioneers paid the entrance fee for a sector in order to take advantage of such facilities. However S-20 was in the middle of nowhere.
-Sector S-20 Administration
Manager: Ark
That was the only signpost in the sector. Of course S-20 had the gallstones from the dungeon. The dungeon had been covered up from the landslide so they had to use 100% manual digging to clear it. It was natural to receive a fee for such efforts. But Ark had a different opinion. Ark hadn’t waived the fee for them because they were acquaintances. The regular users not familiar with Ark would no doubt complain. In the early days of a business, he had to be the most careful about any complaints.
-This sector is a dud. I wasted money paying the fee!
Rumours were the biggest obstacle for the growth of a sector!
‘A business isn’t built in one or two days. Right now reputation is most important!’
Reputation gathered people. Money would be collected at the place where people gathered. Ark already knew how to conduct business from New World. And that part was a little clearer in Galaxian. The fee for using the sector was the basic income but 90% of the real earnings came from the port fees, Fairy fees or taxes from the proceeds of the store. However, he couldn’t create port or Fairy without money. The Fairy and port was a public facility. It was impossible to establish a transport ship route or Fairy when there were no people. The sector needed to reach a certain level before permits would be given. It was the same with the stores. No NPC merchants would build stores in a sector with no visitors. The most important thing for a new sector was to gather pioneers! He couldn’t be too greedy over petty cash. Ark’s approach was effective.
“Thank you.”
“But we heard Ark-nim was setting up this sector so we came to help. If you don’t want a use fee then please let us do something else.”
“Yes, I will do whatever.”
“I know a lot of users so I’ll call my friends.”
Ark didn’t refuse it again.
“Thank you very much.”
In fact, S-20 had a lot of unexpected work to do. One of them was to create a boundary fence around the sector to prevent monsters and bandits. An average sector also installed a shield generator on the fence. Naturally Ark had no money to create such a fence.
‘But it won’t be that much with the materials.’
Ark laughed as he looked at the pile of debris on one side. They were the previous stores that had been broken by the Kero’s attack! They packed their money after the battle ended by the junk was left there. Therefore there was a pile of junk stacked up. There was also the wreckage of the abandoned Laius research centre.
‘The crew is in the dungeon so I’m lacking in manpower…..’
Now he had dozens of volunteers. Therefore Ark was able to launch construction work on the fence. Of course, they were customers so he couldn’t work them as hard as the Royal Guards. But Ark was a user who had the ability to draw out more effort from people.
“Pant pant pant! Isn’t this pretty hard?”
“Then you may stop soon. Fortunately you and your colleagues made 300 metres last night so you’ve progressed quite a lot. Aren’t you really good at this? Your party members have worked around the clock without any complaints. This shows that they trust their leader. They must be working hard because they know your character.”
Just throwing in a few words like this…..
“Eh? What is it? You can stop now.”
“Pant pant pant! I-it’s fine. After I thought about it, I realized I don’t have anything else to do. And this is the moral obligation of a man! It isn’t in my temperament to not help out. Isn’t that right?”
“Yes, that’s right!”
……The users starting working again. With Shein, Kuma and Face’s party helping out, they managed to insert the poles of the fence into the ground. At that time one trailer truck arrived.
“Ark, good to see you again!”
A middle aged man with a rough beard greeted him. He was the president of Hammer Industries who explained about the gallstones when Ark first arrived.
“I was in sector S-15 when I heard rumours that pioneers are gathering here again. My specialty is gallstone fusion so I have to take advantage of this place. It is perfect now that those damn Laius people have withdrawn. But I didn’t know you were the administrator of this sector. Can I do business here?”
“Welcome!”
Ark eagerly replied as they shook hands. It was more imperative for his sector to have stores than a Fairy or port. Pioneers could buy or sell various things. Ark also
had a lot of supplies that needed to be sold. Ark also repaired equipment using Cheksun’s toolbox but he couldn’t repair magic or rare items. He had reached the limit. Then the store appeared like rain in a drought!
“Gid-nim is a comrade who fought with me against the Kero clan. You also suffered from the incident so I will only collect a tax of 1 copper for the next 6 months. That will apply to any other merchants who received damage here.”
“Is that true?”
“Of course. I promise.”
It would take 6 months to truly establish the sector. He would rather attract a wide variety of stores in order to quickly grow the sector.
“I see. Then I’ll contact the previous stores and gather them. I have a lot of friends who will come running if these are the conditions.”
Ark’s tax-free policy started building S-20 up. Gid also contacted the previous stores who used to be there and they gathered one by one in S-20. Users naturally started gathering to use the stores. Pioneers also started coming from distant cities thanks to Slayer, Leon and Melina’s promotion. When S-20 first started, there was only Ark and the Royal Guards members. Thanks to their steady efforts, the population was able to reach 500 in just a fortnight. Meanwhile Shein’s work was also proceeding steadily and the fence entered the final stages.
“……The time has come!”
Ark launched a full scale commercialization.
Sector S-20’s special opening event!
The first 1,000 people to register will receive a lifetime pass to the gallstone dungeon for only 10 silver!
You absolutely can’t miss this chance of a lifetime!
That was the new sign erected at the entrance of S-20. Usually pioneers had to pay a fee of 1 silver to enter a sector. This was 10 times the amount but the package meant they could enter the dungeon for an unlimited amount of time! When considering that most pioneers needed to hunt in a place for a minimum of 10 times, that was an exceptional price. Of course that was just bait to advertise his goods.
“I’ve secured 1,000 customers. And the lifetime pass means that they won’t leave S-20. I need customers to raise the population. A population of 2,000 is required in order to apply for a Fairy! I have half of that with just the package!”