I Entered a Gacha Game That Had Been Abandoned for 10 Years

11 – Territory Development (3)

Arteil, when initially released, did not have NPC territories like Merilda.

The reason was that Arteil had received favorable reviews early on as a game that skillfully blended territory and cute girl gacha systems.

Until then, all territories in the field were owned by players.

However, as Arteil began to obsess over money, started injecting obscene microtransactions into the cute girl gacha, and the number of deserters increased, players began to rapidly leave the game.

At that point, Arteil urgently transformed the territories abandoned by players into NPC territories to somehow maintain the vacant spaces left by the departing users.

Thinking about it, thanks to that, there are many territories around later, but there isn’t a single player, and Kim Hyunwoo sometimes thinks he might be playing a packaged game alone, solely surrounded by NPC territories.

Anyway, the reason Kim Hyunwoo suddenly recalled the memories of the past was precisely because of the Sertova territory.

More precisely.

“Lord Sertova is truly relieved that Lord Lartania has returned to the territory.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. Lord Sertova also sincerely hopes for the revival of Lartania territory.”

“It’s good that Lord Sertova thinks that way.”

It was because of Sertova’s lion, who would offer him wine with a servant-like expression, leave numerous insincere compliments, and laugh naturally with a cunning smile.

So.

“Well, I’ve delivered the gift, so I’ll take my leave now.”

Watching Sertova’s lion disappear with a smile, Kim Hyunwoo thought about him leaving the territory from the Lord’s Castle.

‘…What could be his intention?’

Of course, Kim Hyunwoo knew the fact that Lord Sertova was plotting something secretive.

He might not know this side or even have a clue in his dreams, but Kim Hyunwoo had the ability to check the information of items in the game just by picking them up.

But even so, the reason Kim Hyunwoo was tilting his head as if something was strange was that there were still unanswered questions.

‘Why go about it in this way?’

Although Loria’s map function, to be precise, did not accurately display the development of nearby territories, it roughly showed the progress of the surrounding territories. Therefore, Kim Hyunwoo knew about Sertova’s territory development.

‘It was definitely around 2500.’

2500.

Of course, the number that came out just by measuring the military strength was not purely the territory development index, but if the territory development index was 2500, Sertova’s territory should have a considerable military strength.

In other words, there was no need for him to try to deal with me in this way.

If Kim Hyunwoo had any hidden agendas, he wouldn’t know, but there wasn’t even such a thing.

“Hmm…”

Of course, when Kim Hyunwoo had come this far, there were things that crossed his mind.

“Is it because of Merilda?”

Merilda, now known as Red Eyes, had recently destroyed the Hallancia Territory.

And that Hallancia Territory was in an alliance with the Sertova Territory, while Merilda had contact with the Lartania Territory.

In other words, from the perspective of the Sertova Lord, it was possible that he had considered Merilda, wondering if she had returned to Lartania.

But even that had some awkwardness to it.

“Loria, open the relationship chart.”

[Understood.]

When Kim Hyunwoo spoke, he saw a transparent chart materialize in front of him, and he had a subtle expression.

—-

[Lartania Territory Relationship Chart]

[Hallancia Territory] -24

[Sertova Territory] -1

—-

The intricate relationship chart from ten years ago was nowhere to be found, and the relationship chart that Kim Hyunwoo saw in front of him was so simple that it was monotonous.

If the thought crossed his mind that Merilda had entered the Lartania Territory, then the relationship chart would not have been so dull.

The territory window that Kim Hyunwoo was currently seeing would have required scrolling through several pages, and at the same time, the relationship chart between the Hallancia and Sertova Territories that he currently saw would have reached a laughable three-digit negative.

“In the end, it seems that Merilda’s actions were not because of Lartania…”

Kim Hyunwoo, who had been contemplating why the Sertova Lord was moving like this for a while, eventually shrugged his shoulders and moved the wine glass to the side.

In fact, if he thought about it like this, there was no end to it.

For one, Kim Hyunwoo didn’t even know what intentions Merilda had when she destroyed the Hallancia Territory.

And he also had doubts about whether the relationship chart in front of him truly functioned like Arteal.

Most importantly, he couldn’t understand why the intangible poison sent by the Sertova Lord was named the Absolute Ruler of Darkness.

“…Did the Absolute Ruler of Darkness attach itself to the Sertova Territory?”

After briefly thinking, Kim Hyunwoo firmly nodded his head.

If the Absolute Ruler of Darkness described in the wine’s explanation was indeed the hero that he had cultivated since 1-star, then it didn’t make sense for the territory development of the Sertova Territory to be stuck at around 2500.

In the end, Kim Hyunwoo, holding a bundle of unsolvable problems, soon realized that contemplating them was meaningless and decided to focus on developing the territory first.

####

Two days later.

As labor efficiency exceeded 80%, and with an increasing workforce available, the reconstruction of the territory began effortlessly.

Looking north from the terrace of the lord’s office in the castle, the abandoned village that always met the eye had transformed into homes, replacing the ruins.

Not only within the entire territory but also focusing on the castle, bookshelves started to rise, reaching around 40%.

Though it wasn’t the entire territory, even the 40% brought a noticeable improvement, and despite the construction time being somewhat long, Kim Hyunwoo watched with a satisfied smile as the bookshelves ascended from the castle.

“Now it finally feels like a territory…”

In reality, the scenery seemed somewhat shabby to be called the landscape of a territory. Even though homes had been built, those in the abandoned village appeared somewhat humble, mostly being log cabins. The bookshelves surrounding the territory, which could be considered the castle walls, were meager.

Honestly, rather than the landscape of the territory itself, it was more accurate to view it as a slightly developed Hwajeonmin village. However, for Kim Hyunwoo, who had initially seen the Larutania territory as desolate except for the abandoned village, witnessing it gradually take on the shape of a village was a profoundly moving experience.

“Once I finish setting up the bookshelves and build the barracks and tavern, I can truly start managing the territory.”

Around the time Kim Hyunwoo was smiling with satisfaction, riding a carriage two days away from Larutania, the man named Vista, who had delivered wine as a messenger for the Sertova territory, was conversing with Lord Roadmalis visible beyond the editing interface.

“You’re a bit late.”

“Apologies. It seems the gem I brought this time was defective, so it took some time to fill it with magic and make contact.”

“Well, nothing can be done about that.”

They were talking beyond the editing interface.

“Was the gift delivered well?”

“Yes, it was delivered successfully. He received the wine without any suspicion, as expected.”

“That’s fortunate. How’s the state of the territory?”

“To be honest, it didn’t look very promising.”

“To what extent?”

“Rather than a territory, it seemed more like a state similar to Hwajeonmin village. The castle was there, but it had been neglected for a long time and was in disrepair. There were no walls, and they were just starting to construct houses in the residential area. However-“

“Was there something unusual?”

“If I may say something a bit peculiar, there were abundant resources.”

“Resources…?”

“Yes, as you know, apart from the maze characteristic, Larutania territory is a barren plain with nothing around. However, in such a desolate wasteland, there were unusually abundant resources, like logs, for example.”

Vista, who had been talking about Larutania territory for a while, seemed to recall something as he briefly raised his gaze.

“Anyway, I’m glad the poison was delivered successfully. Let’s discuss the rest when you return.”

“Understood.”

As soon as he heard the Lord’s words, he lowered his head in compliance, attempting to sever the flow of magic into the Crystal Orb.

Thunk!

Lord Malice saw it.

Clearly, Vistra’s neck, which had just bowed to him, twisted 180 degrees.

“?”

At that moment, with the distortion of Lord Malice’s expression.

-Boom! Crash!

A massive sound echoed from within the Crystal Orb, and the screen began to rotate wildly.

[What, what is this!]

[At, attack! At- aaaaah!]

Simultaneously, the voices of the soldiers.

No, the screams began to be heard.

“…”

The screen Lord Malice was watching only reflected the shattered carriage in the Crystal Orb, but with the chilling screams and the sound of tearing, Lord Malice inevitably realized that something had happened.

And so, not even 30 seconds had passed when the screams of the soldiers suddenly ceased, and Lord Malice could realize.

That more than 50 soldiers sent with the lion, all perished.

And, as the screen of the Crystal Orb stopped spinning once again.

Lord Malice unconsciously held his breath.

The reason was that she, who had directly caused the tragedy in the Crystal Orb a moment ago, was inside.

With crimson eyes,

The woman he had seen ten years ago as one of the members of Larthania’s council, now looked at him with an endlessly indifferent expression.

However, her face seemed to exude a sharp anger as she gazed at Lord Malice from beyond the Crystal Orb.

“…”

She didn’t say a word, just stared at Lord Malice, raised her finger, and pointed at him.

“Wait-“

Because she will come to kill him right now, the words ended.

Crack!

With a sound as if something was breaking, the connection was cut off.

“…”

And that night.

In the realm, the ★★★★★☆ Hero, the ‘King of Beasts,’ made his entrance.

—-

In the realm, the ★★★★★☆ Hero, the ‘King of Beasts,’ made his exit.

—-

“…?”

Kim Hyunwoo, lying down to go to sleep, found himself bewildered at the notification that appeared and disappeared in less than 5 seconds in front of his eyes.

Simultaneously, with wine bottle in hand, a red-eyed figure started moving toward the Ser’tova territory.