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

2 – Message (2)

He entered the game he had neglected for ten years.

Episode 3

Message. (2)

Along with Loria’s words, a notification window appeared before Kim Hyun-woo.

—–

King of Nymphs

Absolute ruler of darkness

Scarlet Dragon

Hero King

Witch of Complementary Colors

Servant of Olunga

…

…

…

“Is this?”

In response to Kim Hyunwoo’s questioning voice, Loria replied.

“It’s a list of heroes who left the territory naturally deteriorating after the departure of the lord. You can turn the pages by touching, so you might want to check it out.”

At her words, Kim Hyunwoo quietly flipped through the notification window’s pages.

The names of numerous heroes came to mind with every flick of his finger.

Naturally, among them were the names of heroes Kim Hyunwoo hadn’t raised from the beginning, those swiftly departing heroes drawn from the gacha, as well as the names of heroes he frequently used.

And then…

“…”

Among them were the names of the five individuals, the strongest forces in Rartania, whom Kim Hyunwoo had diligently nurtured by spending an enormous amount of money.

“You can send a message to one of them.”

“Just one?”

“Yes, only one. You can’t send to all of them.”

“This is so frustrating.”

Loria remained silent.

‘What should I do?’

Kim Hyunwoo pondered, stroking his chin.

In reality, from his current standpoint, the heroes worth summoning were undoubtedly among the individuals he had nurtured in the ‘Round Table,’ investing an incredible amount of money and affection ten years ago.

Even if he could bring only one of them immediately, it could neatly resolve the labyrinthine situation Kim Hyunwoo was facing right now.

However, the reason Kim Hyunwoo didn’t easily make up his mind was that this wasn’t a definitive summoning right for the heroes but merely a ‘message.’

In other words, even if he sent a message, it didn’t guarantee the hero’s arrival.

‘Originally, the messaging system itself was designed in the game as a system where heroes reappeared with a certain probability… Well, this isn’t a game, so there might not be probabilities, but that makes it even more critical.’

Kim Hyunwoo thought pragmatically.

Regarding which hero among those likely to have considerably low favorability at this moment would have the highest probability if he sent a message.

And after some time passed…

“Can a message be sent to the King of Water?”

Kim Hyunwoo made his decision.

“I’ll proceed with the message transmission as you requested.”

Following Loria’s continuation, Kim Hyunwoo’s expression turned into confusion as he asked, “Huh?”

“Wait, you’re saying it’s a message? Don’t you have to write something?”

“No. The function of the message is only to inform the hero that the lord has returned. It cannot contain any text to send a message.”

“…This is so frustrating.”

Kim Hyunwoo, trying not to swear unconsciously, hit his forehead again and sighed.

“It’s going to be difficult if I can’t send a message.”

Kim Hyunwoo had been nurturing the 5-star characters of the Round Table, which could be considered Lartania’s greatest power, since they were at 1-star level. In other words, he had a certain understanding of the background settings of the 5-star characters, and that was why he decided to send a message to the King of Sui’in. If he knew the background settings, he believed that he could move her by delivering a few words to the King of Sui’in.

“Is there really no way?”

“There is no way to include text in the message. Furthermore, the message has already been sent. It will be delivered to the hero in about a day from now.”

“Wait, why does it take a day to send a message?”

“Because it’s being sent by special delivery.”

Kim Hyunwoo muttered briefly, “This is ridiculous,” closed his eyes tightly, and let out a sigh.

“Anyway, this is the best option in the current situation. Besides, there is a chance that the King of Sui’in will come just by receiving the message.”

With that thought, he let go of his regrets and opened his mouth.

“Loria, show me what I can do in the current situation first.”

####

Although everything would be resolved when the King of Sui’in arrived, Kim Hyunwoo wasn’t willing to rely on such a miracle, so he immediately began searching for what he could do in the current situation.

After all, if the King of Sui’in didn’t come, Kim Hyunwoo’s life would be over if he risked everything on her.

However.

“Isn’t this a bit too much?”

After digging through the game window that Loria had made similar to the previous Arteil for several hours, Kim Hyunwoo realized the harsh reality.

“How can there be absolutely nothing I can do?”

Literally, at this moment, Kim Hyunwoo had nothing he could do.

“Even if I try to gather troops, I don’t have enough population. I can’t put up barricades because I don’t have enough resources, and I don’t even have enough money to distribute to the laborers.”

“This f*cking-“

Actually, up to this point, Kim Hyunwoo’s anger wouldn’t have been that big.

However, the reason why profanity was coming out of his mouth at this moment was because of one thing.

“If the territory is destroyed, the territory level should drop to 1 as well. What is this about territory level 30!?”

Kim Hyunwoo’s territory, Lartania, was at level 30 instead of level

Of course, compared to the time when Kim Hyun-woo played Arteil, a level 30 territory seemed weak.

Ten years ago, when Kim Hyun-woo played Arteil, the level of Larthania he was raising had surpassed 60.

A high territory level brings many advantages.

Immediately, the number of territory residents who can unlock upper-level buildings or be accepted increases, and the land that can be affiliated also expands.

In addition, since the number of gacha characters, or heroes, one possesses also increases, territory level is quite important.

However, this was a story under the assumption that the territory is functioning properly. In the current situation, like Kim Hyun-woo with nothing, having a high territory level leads to side effects.

Arteil fundamentally determines the number of monsters attacking based on the territory level. The labyrinth brake, holding the key to his life, is also influenced by the number of monsters based on the territory level.

In other words, to describe the current situation, in a city with a territory level of 30 and a development score of -20, which is not functioning properly, a massive army of monsters is converging.

To put it simply, in one line, Kim Hyun-woo’s situation was like this.

Damn.

Because there was no word that could perfectly and cleanly summarize the situation, he scowled in arrogance.

“Loria.”

[Yes.]

“Spread the map.”

Kim Hyun-woo did not give up.

‘Somehow, request reinforcements from nearby territories…!’

Knowing that the situation was the worst of the worst, but with his mental state about to explode, Kim Hyun-woo cherished his life too much to just pray to the sky.

‘I’ll try everything I can…!’

He looked at the map Loria unfolded.

The map was similar to what he had seen ten years ago, a giant grid with constant dots. Brown areas represented land, green areas were forests, and blue parts symbolized the sea—an extremely familiar dot map. He soon confirmed the nearby territories marked with green markers.

“Loria, what are those orange dots outside?”

He unconsciously threw a question at the curiosity that, even if he had discovered it while playing the game, he wouldn’t have cared about, distant orange dots.

The reason he suddenly took an interest in those dots was that it was the first time he saw orange dots.

[Although I woke up at the same time as the Lord, I am seeing the orange dots for the first time. However, according to the map system, it seems that the orange dots are boss zones.]

Kim Hyun-woo asked in response to Loria’s continued explanation.

“Boss zone?”

[Yes, it seems that if you send soldiers to eliminate them, you can gain immense wealth. By the way, the name is…]

Loria’s words paused as if looking at something, then continued.

[-It seems to be called “Red Eye” by the surrounding territories and kingdoms.]

####

The werewolves are inherently a combative race.

They enjoy fighting and find pleasure in battling against stronger beings, feeling joy rather than fear. They can be considered as true warriors.

Because of this, werewolf territories and clans, in which werewolves gather, are never quiet thanks to the werewolves who turn fights into a form of entertainment.

Werewolves love to fight wherever they are and do not hesitate to challenge those who hold higher positions than themselves.

Anyway, these characteristics of the werewolves naturally apply to the clan known as ‘Red Eye’, where werewolves gather.

So, by default, Red Eye is always noisy.

Gerta, a werewolf who recently joined this werewolf clan, could not understand the current situation.

“…”

Silence.

The territory of Red Eye, which would normally be the site of battles and feasting, has been maintaining silence for four days now.

It has been four days since Red Eye fell silent.

Gerta, who is usually sharp and skilled in battle even among werewolves, receiving considerable respect from one of the Four Kings, could not contain her curiosity about the never-ending silence and asked.

“…Why is everyone behaving like timid dogs and not fighting or speaking for the past four days?”

Gerta’s question, with the rough tone unique to werewolves, unable to satisfy her desire for combat for so long.

Giral, one of the Four Kings and a member of the Langin tribe who, like the other werewolves, maintained silence, replied simply.

“Because we don’t want to die.”

“What do you mean?”

Gerta made a puzzled expression.

“That’s enough explanation, Gerta. It’s the date chosen by the leader, so keep silent. If you don’t comply, you will die.”

“The leader?”

“Yes.”

However, whether Gerta made such an expression or spoke, Giral ended the conversation as if to say ‘silence’ and closed his mouth.

Looking at Giral, Gerta turned her gaze towards the top of the mountain.

Unlike the werewolves who always fought and drank, she had never seen the leader, who never came down from the top of the mountain.

As a result, Gerta, who had never had any substantial conversation with the leader, had a relatively weak sense of respect as the head of the tribe.

“…Understood.”

Gerta accepted Giral’s words and decided to keep her mouth shut.

Of course, she had only seen the leader a few times.

However, the reason Gerta complied without any disagreement was her strength that had been seen only a few times.

Beyond the thrill, she experienced the terror firsthand with her own eyes.

As her body surged forward once, dozens of soldiers burst out.

When she swung her arm once, the monsters of the horde were severed like cutting heads.

The scene where the arrogant ones who dared to gather in defiance at her gesture were crushed was witnessed with both eyes, leading to their demise.

Gerta fell silent, gazing at the mountain summit where a leader, revered by the giants, presided.

At the center of that mountain summit.

With her body buried in the tail of a fiery serpent, she, barely closing her swollen and squinting eyes, heard a soft sound.

Tap-

“…?”

A single letter fell from the sky.