The Strongest in the Game by Dominating Monster - Chapter 28

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

Monster Domination: Game’s Strongest Episode 28

“R-really? Rain actually made you a recruitment offer?”

Jin-woo, whom I met at a tavern in Gania City, exclaimed in shock at my words.

Seeing Jin-woo lean forward with wide eyes reminded me of the past from a few years ago.

During our freshman year of college, when I told him a celebrity asked for my number on the street, Jin-woo reacted exactly like this.

The memory made me chuckle as I sipped my beer.

“Is it really that surprising?”

“Of course! Rain is one of the most watched Users in New World right now!”

Jin-woo chattered excitedly, spitting as he spoke.

Flashy gameplay, unique profession, outstanding skills, and so on.

After praising her with all sorts of flowery words, he ended with a silly grin.

“And most of all, she’s absolutely gorgeous.”

I burst out laughing at his foolish smile.

Ah. So my friend was the fool who fell for that kind of act.

I wondered what expression he’d make if he found out how tiny she was in real life.

It would be quite a sight to see.

“Why are you laughing like you’re looking at an idiot? It’s kind of annoying.”

“Ah. Sorry. It’s just something like that.”

“Hmph. Anyway, congratulations. Bow and Rain isn’t bad at all. They have a good reputation and get along well with the top mercenary groups. You won’t lose out by joining them.”

Oh ho. So Rain does have some skill after all?

The much better evaluation than I expected was quite surprising.

However, since I hadn’t completely committed yet, I grabbed some french fries from the appetizers and said,

“Ah. But it’s not an official membership.”

“Huh? What do you mean by that?”

I leisurely tapped my toes and spoke without hiding anything.

The troublesome sense of belonging, the danger when my profession was revealed, the annoyance of fame, and so on.

I explained my refusal to join for various reasons, and Jin-woo nodded in understanding.

“But they offered money. I was tempted by that. So I started playing hard to get, and the conditions changed a bit.”

“How so?”

“I’m joining the Bow Mercenary Group not as an official member, but as an honorary member. Since it’s not an official membership, I don’t need to participate in events or gatherings. Instead, three times a year, I must respond when the mercenary group asks for help. Also, joining other mercenary groups is absolutely forbidden.”

Jin-woo, who had been listening intently, exclaimed in admiration as soon as I finished.

“Those conditions are fucking great?”

“I thought so too. So I accepted.”

My lips curved into a gentle arc.

Even with those conditions for joining, I received 4,000 in payment.

No matter how I thought about it, it was a profitable deal.

“Excuse me, Lord Kairen.”

Just then, I heard an unfamiliar voice from behind.

I glanced back to see a servile man with eyes full of expectation.

At his gaze that clearly seemed to be requesting something, I quickly pulled out a long red cloth from my inventory.

On that red cloth, the word “Bow” was embroidered with golden thread.

“Th-this is…”

“It’s the symbol of the mercenary group I belong to.”

“Ah… I’m sorry.”

The man sighed and backed away, while Kairen let out an arrogant cough.

This red cloth was the mercenary group’s symbol that Rain had given me.

Just by taking it out, everyone would bow and back away.

It was the same now as it was earlier.

When I entered the city, Users rushed at me like a pack of wolves again.

But when I held this cloth high and waved it, they all sighed and backed away.

Thanks to that, I could escape from that annoyance.

After easily sending the User away, I leisurely drank my beer, and Jin-woo continued his questions.

“Ah. You said you got paid too. How much did you agree to receive?”

“Four thousand. They originally offered five thousand, but they cut it down later.”

“F-four thousand? Holy shit! Jin-woo! I suddenly have an urgent matter, so… could you lend me some money…”

“Don’t be so ridiculous.”

We burst into laughter while exchanging silly jokes.

“So you’ve put out the urgent fire now? You solved the tuition and prepared living expenses too.”

“Yeah. Just enough to put out the urgent fire?”

Even though I had gained a large sum, I acted nonchalantly.

Four million won. It was a large amount, but not a number that would change my life.

Considering the debt my parents carried and the life that lay ahead, it wasn’t a number that would change my existence.

It was far from enough to be satisfied.

“Right. At least you have an environment to focus on the game. So what will you do now? Hunting? Want your hyung to help you out?”

I waved my hand at Jin-woo’s playfully arrogant smile.

“No. Hunting comes later. Right now I need to focus on my territory.”

“Why the territory?”

At Jin-woo’s question, I briefly explained the territory situation.

That magic stones, logs, and stone were needed for territory construction.

That I had obtained magic stones, but hadn’t found an answer for how to get logs and stone, and so on.

After explaining the entire situation, Jin-woo provided a clear solution.

“Stone and logs are easy to get. They sell them at the auction house too.”

“Huh? The auction house?”

“You’ve never used it? They sell pretty much everything at the auction house. They probably sell stone and logs too? Wait a moment…”

Jin-woo, who seemed to be checking the auction house, paused briefly then snapped his fingers.

“That’s right! They’re selling them!”

At his cheerful voice, I quickly opened the auction house too.

A smile spread across my face thinking I could obtain them more easily than expected, but.

“…What? Are the prices normally like this?”

The stone listed in the auction house was 20 gold per piece.

Logs were 25 gold each, quite a steep price that made me frown.

I currently had about 100 gold.

Even if I spent my entire fortune, I could only get 10 pieces of stone at most.

Jin-woo also seemed not to have expected this price, as he clicked his tongue and tilted his head, then as if something occurred to him, he sighed.

“Ah! Right! The mercenary groups!”

“Why the mercenary groups?”

“The top mercenary groups are currently at war trying to take a territory. They say stone and logs are being consumed massively in that war. They’re essential for making siege weapons?”

“So the prices skyrocketed because demand is overflowing?”

“Exactly. Looking at the current prices, they’ve jumped more than five times the usual rate. Buying now would be totally crazy, so how about waiting a bit? Looking at the community, it seems like the war will end soon.”

Jin-woo’s suggestion was reasonable.

When the war ended and demand decreased, prices would stabilize.

Unfortunately, I didn’t have that much time.

With about a month left until the raid, I couldn’t just wait indefinitely.

“No. I need to buy them now.”

I spoke firmly, and Jin-woo shrugged with a puzzled look.

“You said you don’t have money.”

“Yeah. But you do.”

“…?”

When I stared at him with sparkling eyes, Jin-woo jumped up from his spot.

“I don’t have any! You bastard!”

“No. You definitely have some, right?”

“What are you talking about?!”

Jin-woo tried to deny it, but I knew well.

That my friend was a terrible miser in games.

Whatever game Jin-woo played, he was like that.

He extremely hated spending money and consumables.

He always kept them safely stored in his pocket until he quit the game.

Even when I told him to spend some since it was a waste, Jin-woo said he liked collecting.

A guy who plays games for the fun of collecting has no saved money in New World?

That was a hard story to believe.

As I continued to smile persistently while looking at him, Jin-woo finally raised the white flag first.

“Damn it… How hard I worked to save that money…”

“Thanks. I’ll pay you back quickly.”

“Sigh. Fine. Ah, but even if I lend it to you, it won’t be enough.”

“Ah. Really?”

“Yeah. What you need right now is 150 stones and 50 logs, right? In terms of money, that’s 4,250 gold. But my entire fortune right now is only 2,000 gold.”

“Hmm…”

Even my trusted stronghold says it’s not enough?

As I stroked my chin, Jin-woo came up with a plausible answer again.

“How about asking Gung?”

“Gung? The mercenary group?”

“Yeah. 2,000 gold is a fortune only to a commoner like me, but to a mercenary group like Gung’s, it’s not that much money. They’re already giving you forty million won, so they’ll easily support you with just 2,000 gold or so.”

“Oh ho.”

I nodded slightly.

It was quite a good method.

Wasn’t this the kind of request I joined the mercenary group to make in the first place?

With a grin, I immediately sent a whisper to Rain.

[From Rain: Watch your back and lend you money too. What a high-maintenance honorary member. I’ll send it right away.]

Huh? She watched my back?

I sent another whisper about the puzzling reply, but there was no answer.

Instead, what came back was mail containing 2,250 gold.

* * *

“Really, thank you. I’ll pay you back with plenty of interest.”

After obtaining all the necessary materials, I patted Jin-woo’s shoulder and smiled awkwardly.

“It’s fine. Don’t think about money and just go do well. Even if you don’t pay back… No. You can pay back slowly.”

I chuckled at his typical Jin-woo behavior until the end.

Pay back slowly, my ass. I’ll pay you back as quickly as possible with interest at least equal to the principal.

“Then go. I should go hunting too.”

Jin-woo waved his hand and left first, and after watching his retreating figure, I also used the key.

[Moving to Monster Lord’s Territory.]

My vision flashed with the alarm.

In that familiar sensation of being sucked somewhere, my heart pounded with anticipation.

The first building to be constructed in the territory.

I wonder how it’s made.

Since the goblins I caught had construction aptitude, I should be able to build with just goblins, right?

When I opened my eyes with a pounding heart, I was sitting on the throne.

Just as I entered the management system to construct the Lower Magic Stone Mine.

Kuuuung!

A loud sound came from outside.

“What’s that?”

A sound I couldn’t understand.

I stopped my hand and got up from my seat.

And when I left the hall and inner castle and headed to the inside of the outer castle, a scene that made me doubt my eyes greeted me.

“Wh-what is this?”

The stones and logs I had bought with a fortune were already neatly placed in a corner of the clearing.

The quantity wasn’t very large, but it wasn’t small either.

And beside them, two goblins were looking at them with satisfied smiles.

No… what the hell is this…

I was speechless at the completely unexpected scene.

Why are stones and logs piled up in my territory, and why are those goblins looking at them proudly?

As my head spun in bewilderment, my eyes met with the goblins.

Kieek! (It’s Master!)

Kieek (Master has come!)

Could they be so happy just from making eye contact?

The goblins, who pulled their lips up to their ears, ran over in one step and clung to my waist, grinning brightly.

Kieek! (We missed you!)

Kieek! (Master! We’ve been waiting the whole time!)

Even if they smile brightly, their origin is still goblin.

It might look quite disgusting to someone else.

But Kairen hugged them gently like embracing newborn puppies.

“Yeah. I missed you too.”

* * *

“So you’re saying you guys did this?”

Kieek! (I cut down trees!)

Kieek! (I dug up stones!)

Kieek! (I carried them here!)

Kieek! (I worked hard!)

Kieek! (No! That one was playing around!)

A fight broke out between the goblin who was pointed out by the last goblin’s tattling.

Watching that cute bickering, Kairen smiled.

No way. Can goblins look this adorable?

So, these are the five goblins I tamed.

These cute and lovely children went out to find work on their own even though I didn’t give them separate orders, and collected quite a lot of logs and stones.

The quantity was thirty logs and twenty stones.

It wasn’t a large amount, but logs and stone were materials that would continue to be used going forward. Even a small quantity was better than having none.

“One headache has been resolved.”

He smiled as he watched the goblin who won the fight clench both fists and stretch them toward the sky.

These little cuties have no idea.

Just how big of an accomplishment they’ve achieved right now.

Since he needed at least enough logs and stone to build a logging camp and stone quarry, stone and logs had been a constant source of headaches.

Should I buy them with money?

Should I go do the manual labor myself?

He had temporarily put aside this unsolvable dilemma.

But he found an unexpected solution.

Though it would take quite a while, self-sufficiency within the territory. In the current situation, it was the best possible method.

“Hey guys. Rest here for a moment.”

Now that he’d solved the troublesome problem, it was time to handle what he had originally planned to do.

After ordering the goblins to rest, he surveyed the surroundings with sharp eyes.

After a moment’s consideration, he soon decided.

Next to the corner where the goblins had stacked up the logs and stone.

That spot was perfect for building a lower magic stone mine.

“If I build it there, the goblins will be assigned to construction work, right?”

There was a reason why ‘construction’ was included in the goblins’ aptitudes.

Building structures clearly required labor as well.

Then the supply of logs and stone would stop again.

“Still not enough…”

There were mountains of work to do, but the workforce was insufficient.

“Orcs? Kobolds? Or maybe…”

More monsters were needed.

Kairen, filled with ambition, moved busily.

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