It took effort to make a beautiful smile. One famous actor said, ‘It’s necessary to practice to make a smile that appeals to everyone.’
It made a lot of sense. Did everyone look pretty when smiling? Wrong. Unfortunately, some people couldn’t make pretty smiles, and Grid was one of them. In the past, people felt uncomfortable whenever he laughed. Was it simply because he was ugly?
No. Smiling was a strange concept for Grid, who had no reason to laugh. When he smiled, his expression became awkward. This was a crucial factor. But now it was different. Grid gradually became used to smiling in the process of increasing his valuable bonds. Now he could deliver a smile that gave a good impression to everyone. His life had changed. This was one of the gifts that Grid acquired.
“I won’t disappoint you.”
Grid made a warm smile and declared. The hearts of the Eternal non-regular soldiers thumped. Their eyes became red and their blood boiled. The lowly people and commoners of the Eternal Kingdom. They had always been disappointed by their monarchs. No, they didn’t have any expectations in the first place. For them, a monarch was nothing but a person who abused and exploited the people. Of course, not all rulers were like that. But the rulers that they’d experienced were the worst.
However, Grid seemed to be different. They felt a strong sense of trust from his behavior, words, and expressions.
“The later generations of my family will follow you!”
"I will go home and bring my family!”
“Hooray Grid! Hooray Grid!”
“...”
Grid felt a strong sense of empathy and responsibility from the cheers. He recalled the first time he encountered the people of Reidan. The residents had felt despair because they couldn’t rely on anyone. It was like he was looking at the past.
‘I will let them know what happiness is.’
Of course, this wasn’t volunteer work. He wouldn’t do anything without gaining benefits. Grid would play a reasonable role with them and take advantage of them.
‘60,000 people...!’
He secured a labor force and a source of taxes!
“Okay. Asmophel, dispose of the remnants of the enemies and repair Bairan. The five people here will help you.”
Asmophel couldn’t hide his joy as he bowed deeply to Grid.
"As you wish.”
Grid wasn’t aware of it, but entrusting Asmophel with the Bairan repair operations was the best choice. Asmophel now had experience as a soldier and had a better understanding of the lowest class people than anyone else. He knew how to effectively lead them.
“Log out.”
Grid took a break and left the game.
***
‘It was surprisingly easy.’
Grid felt giddy at the end of the battle. Duke Lucilliv showed an unexpected ability and Grid’s movements were stopped. He allowed the enemies’ attacks and the immortal passive was activated. If Duke Lucilliv had struggled a bit longer, Grid was the one who would’ve died, rather than Duke Lucilliv. The 50% drop in health due to Blackening was truly deadly.
However, if Grid used all his power, then the war would’ve ended more easily. The battle of 1 vs 100,000 was much easier than expected. Of course, Youngwoo also knew that he didn’t do it alone.
'Asmophel’s help was great.’
Shin Youngwoo dissolved cocoa powder in warm milk and leaned against the window. He didn’t become aware of it until later. Asmophel had been dressed as an Eternal soldier. Nobody strong in the Eternal army threatened him. This was due to Asmophel’s actions.
‘60,000 people pledged allegiance to me today.’
The TV was relaying battlefield videos of Patrian, Cork Island, and Borneo. Youngwoo watched his colleagues and subordinates fighting for their lives in various places.
'Everyone is doing their best.’
The time will come soon.
‘I will rise to the throne after this war is over.’
Yes, it was time to be king. It was a timely fashion. He had a big desire to make it worthwhile for everyone who followed him, not just to fulfill his self-desire. The kingdom name that he had been thinking about for a long time.
‘Overgeared Kingdom.’
The Overgeared Guild built the kingdom, so the name should definitely be Overgeared. Then what would be the symbol of the king?
‘...Overgeared King!’
Kkuok!
Youngwoo gripped his cup of cocoa tightly. He was thrilled as he thought about himself being king.
***
『 I heard there are many people who criticized and mocked Grid for fighting 100,000 troops alone. 』
『 That’s right. Grid was so overconfident in his own strength that most people foresaw Grid’s imminent death. 』
『 But didn’t Grid retake Bairan? 』
『 He didn’t simply recapture it. He absorbed at least 60,000 of the 100,000 troops. Immediately after Grid killed Duke Lucilliv, 60,000 soldiers knelt in front of Grid and swore allegiance to him. 』
『 I watched the video. It was a scene that caused goosebumps. The number of views exceeded 200 million in half a day... 』
『 What made the remnants of Eternal’s army obey Grid? 』
『 I think they were impressed to see Grid take on 100,000 troops to save the people of Bairan. It’s also likely that Grid advanced knowing this. 』
『 Do you mean that Grid hit 100,000 troops with the intention of absorbing Eternal’s soldiers? 』
『 Isn’t that right? It’s scary to see Grid’s brilliance... 』
『 I have a question. Would Kraugel be able to break through 100,000 troops and cut off the head of the leader? 』
Everyone knew that Kraugel was stronger than Grid. It had been formally proven at the National Competition. It was a hot topic. If Grid could do it, then Kraugel probably could as well.
『 It isn’t impossible when considering Kraugel. He has more abilities than Grid. However, I don’t think he has the defense and stamina to withstand a lot of attacks. 』
『 In addition, looking at simple damage and breakthroughs, Grid is definitely better than Kraugel. In a war against a large number of people, Grid is probably superior to Kraugel. 』
The international media from each kingdom praised Grid. Grid’s performance in the war was undoubtedly perfect and great. God of War Ares also acknowledged it.
“Wonderful.”
A middle-aged man placed crisp and salty potato chips in his mouth and drank coke. He wiped the potato chips powder off his hands and spoke to one of his closest aides, Scott.
"Bring me another coke from the fridge.”
“You’re truly carefree. Is this the time to be drinking coke?”
Scott couldn’t resist raising his voice.
"Don’t you realize the seriousness of the current situation? The title of the first king will be taken away by Grid! Our Ares army must support Eternal right now! We have to trample on the Overgeared Guild!”
The activities of the Overgeared Guild was enough to frustrate Scott and the other Ares troops. From Satisfy to the present, they had been moving without hesitation to build the Ares Empire. While the other rankers announced their names to the world and enjoyed wealth and honor, they wandered around unknown, repeatedly fighting in wars.
The first player to build a kingdom would naturally be Ares. They would be rewarded for their efforts. The Ares army thought this. Ares shrugged at Scott as he watched the members of Overgeared on the TV.
"The empire is between us and Eternal, and we’re at war with the empire. What path can we use to move the army to Eternal?”
"Is there a need to move the army? Just send a few small elites like me and Luck. Then we can interfere with those guys!”
"Ah.” Ares scratched his groin before patting Scott’s shoulder. "Being ambitious is good, but don’t forget our goal is the Saharan Empire. Don’t be so obsessed with the immediate loss.”
Ares pulled a coke out of the fridge, drank it, and lay down in the capsule.
"Didn’t you see the war video? The commander, Duke Lucilliv, was incompetent. He didn’t have the leadership ability to manage 100,000 troops in a narrow city area. In front, Grid wasn’t fighting 100,000 against 1. It was a battle against thousands. The world doesn’t know this and they are praising Grid for going against 100,000 people.”
“...”
“The Saharan Empire will be deceived by that reputation. They will start watching Grid. We have to look for that gap.”
First king? He didn’t want to miss that title, but he wouldn’t cling to it. He would devour the Saharan Empire.
‘Grid, please make more of an effort.’
It would be good if Grid attracted the attention of Agnus. Ares laughed as he connected to Satisfy. Among his numerous titles, he had ‘First to Slaughter 10,000 People’ and ‘First to Slaughter 20,000 People.’ It was the reason why Grid and Jishuka didn’t get the titles, despite slaughtering masses of people.
***
There was a fatal weakness in the Overgeared Guild. It wasn’t possible to produce siege weapons due to a lack of technology and resources. In order to produce siege weapons, a wide range of materials and technologies were needed as well as a blacksmith.
Lauel was worried about this until he found something in the fields. A unique class who used various animals to improve their livestock farming efficiency. Lauel asked the pet master. Could the super large monsters be trained and used as a siege weapon? Originally, super large monsters weren’t easily tamed, but he had a ray of hope because of the unique class Pet Master.
Nyangmong was naive. He replied that it was possible. A Pet Master could completely tame and educate super large monsters that were twice as big as wyverns. The price was great. He had to release the precious cat type and puppy type monsters that he’d trained in the past into the wild. It was to train the super large monsters that occupied three pet inventory spaces.
‘My cute babies... Are they starving because they can’t adapt to the wild?’
In particular, he was worried about the short-tailed cat. He was a rough and arrogant cat who wouldn’t find a mate and would die alone of old age.
‘I hope he doesn’t cry because he misses his job... Cough!’
The march to Reinhardt. The Overgeared members encouraged Nyangmong, who had fallen into a serious depression.
"I’m sure your kids are doing well. They’re monsters, so living in the wild is probably much more enjoyable for them.”
"That's right. Monsters should live in the wild. They’re probably playing around and enjoying life right now.”
Nyangmong’s expression became darker.
“...It makes sense. It’s more fun for them to play with their friends. That’s right. Those children have found happiness after leaving me. I have been taking away the children’s happiness in the meantime.”
“...”
The Overgeared members stiffened. The Korean actor Kim Doohyun who was famous in Hollywood. They thought he was a normal person, but he wasn’t. He had a strange personality like other members of Overgeared. Grid, Lauel, Huroi, Regas, Peak Sword, Vantner, Toon, Katz, etc. Why were all the top players of their guild so strange?
‘Is it a curse or something?’
‘I shouldn’t go to South Korea...’
As the Overgeared members were feeling seriously concerned, the army got closer to Reinhardt.
Chief Commander Lauel shouted, "Subordinates of the great war god Grid, it’s the eve of war and I know that the blood in your veins is boiling. But rest is the most important thing. Visualize the Frost Queen's Breath and cool your blood. We will stop here.”
“...Ah.”
No, why couldn’t he just give a simple command to stop? Was it necessary to add the nonsense? Lauel might be an ineffective person as commander of the front lines. He was the type of commander who reduced the morale of the soldiers. Lauel let out a strange kukukuk laugh. Half of his face was covered with one hand as he laughed.
‘Reinhardt...’
He would conquer it in two days and give it to Grid. He didn’t doubt that the timing of his Reinhardt invasion was perfect. But there was a variable. It was caused by Prince Benoit.
"Bring the virgins!”
On Reinhardt’s walls. King Aslan confirmed Overgeared’s army in the distance and made a decision.
‘I will summon the great demon!’