The Return of the Genius Ranker’s Myth Warehouse - Chapter 323

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 323
Chapter 323
A mechanical device discovered in the tyrannical nation of Cronion, presumed to have Luke’s heart transplanted into it.
A situation where the Evil God is even suspected to have appeared.
This is not a matter I can simply overlook.
Retrieving Luke’s heart is urgent, but the Evil God grows stronger with each passing moment and will eventually possess enough power to dominate the world itself.
Therefore, I must defeat it as soon as possible.
The problem is that its location happens to be Cronion.
‘It’s impossible alone.’
Even I cannot venture into Cronion by myself, retrieve Luke’s heart, and defeat the Evil God.
What if I mobilized all our guild members?
That won’t work.
What if I requested cooperation from the Taegeuk Guild?
That won’t work either.
The enemy is on a scale where hundreds of people would be nowhere near enough.
Noticing my contemplation, Yuris grinned and continued speaking.
“That’s why I’m saying this, Marquis.”
“Do you have a good idea?”
“Marquis, you’re close with the Emperor, aren’t you? Why not just go tell him?”
“Tell him what?”
“That you want to support the war effort against Cronion. Then you could borrow the Empire’s strength and confidently obtain the ‘heart’ and defeat the ‘Evil God’, right?”
Yuris’s idea was for me to directly volunteer to support the Empire’s war effort.
Now that I thought about it, it wasn’t a bad idea at all.
I hadn’t intended to become deeply involved in imperial affairs, but this situation was one where the Empire’s interests and mine aligned perfectly.
If I volunteered myself, I could obtain Luke’s heart, defeat the Evil God, and even earn merit by helping the Empire—a win-win-win opportunity.
“From the atmosphere, the Empire will soon mobilize players for the war anyway. So wouldn’t it be better for you to go speak first? That way the optics are better and you can gain more benefits, right?”
After hearing this much, I could only nod in agreement.
“Let’s head to the Imperial Palace right now.”
“I need to return to Labelt anyway, so let’s go together, Marquis!”
We immediately set off toward the Imperial Palace.
In the past, I would have had to run there myself, but now a portal was installed in Labelt.
The portal fee was expensive, but at my current level, the cost was no burden whatsoever.
Besides, as the Lord of Kalbera Territory, I didn’t even need to pay the fee.
After arriving in Labelt that way.
I immediately sought out the Imperial Palace.
“I’ve come because I have something to tell Your Imperial Majesty.”
Perhaps thanks to my elevated status, the Emperor received me immediately without any waiting period, just as before.
“As a Marquis of the Baltika Empire, I’ve come because I wish to cooperate in the battle against Cronion, which has recently been threatening the Empire.”
“Hahaha! How admirable! While other nobles are hastily withdrawing in fear, you volunteer for battle against Cronion before I even call upon you!”
Just as Yuris had predicted, the Emperor was delighted and accepted my request.
And there, I conceived of one more thing.
A method to lead the war against Cronion to victory.
“I am a Marquis of the Baltika Empire, but I am also the Guild Master of the Black Flame. As such, would it not be wise to mobilize the Empire’s adventurers in the war, starting with myself?”
“It’s a sound idea, but adventurers are difficult to control. Mobilizing them indiscriminately will only make command impossible.”
“If we mobilize them by Guild, there should be no major issues. And besides, aren’t there treacherous terrains among the contested zones that require no tactical strategy whatsoever?”
“Hmm… Then, Marquis Mir, could you take command of the adventurers?”
“I am deeply honored by your trust.”
Adventurers.
In other words, mobilizing all the users.
Thus, I was able to assume the position of commander controlling the users.
And I began preparing for war against Cronion, the tyrannical nation, to obtain Luke’s heart and defeat the Evil God.
* * *
Meanwhile.
The Team Leader of the Crisis Management Team at Second, who had designated Mir as the highest priority surveillance target and was monitoring his screen, found himself in a predicament.
“Wait, hold on!”
“Team Leader, what’s wrong?”
“Mir—he’s mobilizing users right now, isn’t he? For a war against Cronion?”
“It appears so…”
“No, is he an operator? Why is he suddenly opening up war content on his own authority?”
I couldn’t help but be taken aback by Mir’s audacity in volunteering as commander and drawing users into this.
War content.
It was called the crown jewel of fantasy online games.
For Mir, a mere user and not an operator, to suddenly unlock such content was unthinkable.
What on earth was happening?
As the Team Leader stood bewildered.
“Team Leader.”
Seo Deputy, the ace of the Crisis Management Team, approached.
“This is an opportunity.”
“What?”
“Recently, through successful advertising featuring the Mir user as a model, Second’s user count has increased significantly.”
“I know that, but what does that have to do with this?”
“The user count has grown, but the users haven’t actually felt any difference from the past. It’s time we opened some kind of event.”
“But the events we can create through direct game intervention have their limits, don’t they?”
“That’s why we should use this opportunity.”
“…War content?”
“Yes. As you know, war content is the crown jewel of the game, right? For war, we’ll need supplies from various production-class professions, and combat-class professions will engage in earnest warfare.”
“Hmm…”
“Given how things have developed, asking the Mir user once more wouldn’t be a bad idea. As the users’ commander, the position is perfectly suited for him, isn’t it?”
The Team Leader nodded.
Now that he heard it, it made sense.
If I managed it well, I could spark another major event for Second, just like before.
The Team Leader pondered for a moment.
“Hold on. This isn’t something our team should handle alone. There’s a lot of approval to get.”
“I’ll prepare the report right away.”
“That’s my ace. Good, let’s push this through properly.”
He nodded and began promoting the war between Cronion and the Empire as a full-fledged Second content piece.
* * *
Shortly after.
A ‘Summons Decree’ began circulating throughout the Empire.
[ To the Brave Adventurers of the Empire! ]
Cronion, the tyrannical nation located in the eastern continent, has finally dared to invade Imperial territory!
Cronion’s atrocities have become utterly intolerable!
Therefore, His Imperial Majesty has decided to summon adventurers to stand against Cronion and protect the safety of the people!
Adventurers who will lead the glory of war alongside the Empire, come forth!
Gather under Commander Mir’s command, crush Cronion, and seize the glory of victory!
Those who honor the Emperor’s name through loyalty and dedication shall receive the Emperor’s grace!
But that was not all.
[ Second’s Grand Finale: ‘War’ ]
Second itself began using this war as a major promotional tool.
Naturally, chaos erupted among the users.
“A war?”
“The east has been noisy lately, but now there’s actually going to be a full-scale war.”
“Can we just participate freely? The Empire hasn’t really used players until now, right?”
“Ever since Mir became a noble, the Empire’s stance has completely changed. That must be why. And I heard Mir is taking the commander position?”
“Wow, monopolizing the main scenario and now commander too? That’s insane.”
“Isn’t Mir basically the protagonist of Second at this point?”
A war.
Two years after the game’s launch, Second had gained popularity for its overwhelming scale and freedom.
But as time passed, it was natural that the lack of significant updates or events felt somewhat tedious.
With this new element of war being added,
it was inevitable that users would take interest.
“Let’s apply too!”
“I heard we can only apply as guilds for now?”
“Oh, I don’t have a guild.”
“Oh, a Mercenary Guild just opened.”
“A Mercenary Guild?”
“It seems to be a temporary guild that accepts solo players who want to participate. Isn’t this perfect?”
“Sounds good? I should join just for this war.”
“The major guilds are recruiting players to prepare for the war too? I should apply.”
“Ugh, I was hoping to join the Heukryeom Guild if a spot opened up. Oh well.”
Combat-focused users began searching for guilds to join and participate in the war.
“A war is breaking out?”
“This is our chance! Buy up all the metal right now!”
“Damn it, the Empire is already buying up most of it!”
“We need to dominate the market while we can!”
“The Empire is recruiting Blacksmiths! The compensation seems pretty good!”
“Cook positions? Not bad at all!”
“They’re recruiting combat engineers too!”
“Can we participate in the war as well? That’s fantastic!”
“We can raise our proficiency levels significantly!”
Production-focused users also began preparing for the war.
However, the most noteworthy development was undoubtedly this:
“Mir is the commander-in-chief?”
“Yes.”
“Hmm. It’s unfortunate, but there’s no helping it. We can trust Mir. Our Taegeuk Guild will support the war effort.”
“Wouldn’t it be better to reach out to Mir separately? Since we have a personal connection compared to other guilds, perhaps he might offer us favorable positions….”
“Mir didn’t seem like that kind of person, but I’ll try asking anyway. Please inform the guild members of this news.”
“Understood.”
They were the Major Guilds known as Korea’s Five Major Guilds.
The Taegeuk Guild had a good relationship with Mir, so they volunteered for the war without much concern.
“Can’t we increase the number of commander positions? Going under Mir? What kind of nonsense is this?”
“It appears to be a decision made by the Emperor, so there’s little we can do about it.”
“Damn it, shouldn’t all of us decide together? How can they appoint a commander from the start and begin recruitment?”
The other guilds felt differently.
They considered themselves equals to Mir’s guild.
In fact, in terms of experience, they found it utterly unacceptable that they would have to serve under Mir of the Black Flame Guild, who was far beneath them in seniority.
But what could they do?
Without even the chance to meet the Emperor, let alone possessing a noble title, they had no choice but to fall under Mir’s command.
However.
“For now, we’ll join. But we must seize the commander position by any means necessary.”
“But that’s the Emperor’s decision. Wouldn’t that be unreasonable?”
“The Emperor is still just an NPC, after all. Users should decide matters among themselves. Will we really accept a user from a guild founded less than a year ago, with less than a year of game experience, as our commander?”
“By other guilds, you mean….”
“Of course, the Five Major Guilds like us. I understand Mir is impressive, but his experience is simply too limited. If the commander makes a wrong decision, it’s only we who suffer the consequences.”
“Understood.”
“And as commander, he’ll surely receive recognition for the greatest achievements. If we win the war as commander, we might even be granted a Territory immediately.”
Many among them refused to acknowledge Mir as commander.
For now they would quietly volunteer for the war, but once it began, they intended to seize the commander position by any means.
Whether through a user vote or a strength-based competition.
Wasn’t this actually the right way to do things?
The one who commands more users.
It was only natural among users that the stronger player would assume the role of commander.
In any case, amid such a complex web of competing interests.
“This should be entertaining.”
The war between the Empire and Cronion was being actively prepared.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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