The Strongest in the Game by Dominating Monster - Chapter 35

—————
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 35

 

Near the luxurious bed decorated with the finest silk and gold thread, the heavy scent of expensive medicinal herbs settled.

 

On that bed, a young woman breathed heavily with a pale face.

 

A precarious sight of life’s light fading away.

 

Arken, the Lord of Gania, gently stroked his daughter’s cold cheek with his wrinkled hand.

 

Then, breaking the silence with a knock, the Knight Commander entered.

 

“My Lord. I have carried out your orders.”

 

“…I see. What was the adventurers’ reaction?”

 

“As expected. The entire city is stirring. Many seem likely to participate.”

 

“Is that so…”

 

Though it was a positive report, Arken’s voice was as powerless as a hollow echo.

 

“What of the other matter? The healer you inquired about throughout the Empire?”

 

“…My apologies.”

 

The Knight Commander bowed his head deeply as if ashamed.

 

A report of no progress on a matter incomparably more important than something like Minotaur subjugation.

 

The wrinkles of anguish carved into Arken’s brow deepened further.

 

“In the end, the only hope left is those foreign adventurers?”

 

Moreover, those he would employ weren’t even proven adventurers.

 

Renowned adventurers were those watched by the entire continent.

 

If he entrusted a request to them, terrible rumors would surely spread across the continent in an instant.

 

Horrible rumors that Serena was cursed with black magic, rumors that the clergy would cry out must be condemned if they heard.

 

After brushing back his daughter’s disheveled hair, Arken rose from his seat.

 

In truth, the Minotaur wasn’t such a critical matter to him.

 

A magical beast that Gania’s military power could easily subjugate and more.

 

Yet the reason he borrowed the power of untrustworthy beings called adventurers was just one.

 

Because of his beloved daughter Serena, dying before his eyes.

 

The subjugation order was merely an excuse.

 

In reality, it was just a test to separate the wheat from the chaff.

 

“Are foreigners truly the only answer…”

 

Even though he had already cast the dice, Arken sighed with displeasure.

 

Under his command were countless loyal knights and wise mages.

 

Yet he had to entrust his daughter’s life to adventurers of unknown identity.

 

His hands trembled at the miserable reality.

 

However, before leaving through the door, he looked at his daughter once more and steeled his heart.

 

“…Adventurer or beggar. What does it matter.”

 

Arken muttered with a self-deprecating voice as he staggered.

 

Serena was his everything and the only light in his world.

 

If he could just save her, nothing he had was too precious.

 

* * *

 

“Holy shit! Isn’t this a must-do even if you can’t complete it?!”

 

“Absolutely! There’s even a high-level restriction!”

 

“If you’re lucky enough to land the killing blow, could you reverse your game life?”

 

“Kekeke. As if that would happen?”

 

“It’s gonna be a massive raid. Sounds super fun, right?”

 

News of the Lord’s subjugation order spread throughout the entire city in an instant.

 

The users gathered in the plaza couldn’t hide their excitement, and I was included in that frenzied heat.

 

“Are you planning to participate too?”

 

Right after the subjugation order, Jin-woo, whom I met after receiving a whisper, asked with gleaming eyes.

 

“Yeah. I should give it a try.”

 

“That’s a shame. If you were participating, I would have participated too. My level isn’t high enough.”

 

“What’s your level?”

 

“Me? 51.”

 

Jin-woo shrugged his shoulders and smiled playfully.

 

“My level is different from yours.”

 

“I’ll catch up to you soon.”

 

“…No way. Take your time catching up.”

 

For a moment, Park Jinwoo shuddered and waved his hands at the genuine fear that he might be overtaken quickly.

 

Baek Jin had always been like this since the old days.

 

Just when he thought he was a little ahead, Baek Jin would somehow be right behind him, then pass him by as if mocking him.

 

“You could just create an alt character and participate.”

 

“Nah. I don’t want to go through that trouble for this level of request. The effort-to-efficiency ratio doesn’t work out, you know?”

 

“Wouldn’t it be overflowing efficiency if you take first place in contribution?”

 

“Easier said than done. There are thousands of people who’ll participate. Create an alt to get first place among them? That’s too bothersome.”

 

“Th-thousands of people?”

 

I stirred at the scale larger than expected.

 

Even during the Goblin Army, hundreds of users participated.

 

But now it had increased by more than ten times at once.

 

“The level restriction is low. Still, there’s an account karma restriction, so it might not be that much?”

 

Jin-woo tilted his head uncertainly and continued.

 

“Usually for events like this, there are people who create alts to participate like you said, but this time karma is checked on an account basis. Even with alts, they can’t participate without exception. If it weren’t for that, it would have easily exceeded tens of thousands, right?”

 

Karma.

 

An alignment system existing in New World, one of the shackles that occurred when committing crimes or player killing.

 

Various penalties were given, including being unable to participate in requests like this time or being banned from entering cities.

 

“Are there that many users who’ve accumulated karma?”

 

“Many. At high levels, PK occurs quite frequently. Sometimes you have no choice but to accumulate karma because of quests. There are also many users who find that fun.”

 

“True.”

 

Though this game felt like reality, it was still virtual reality.

 

No user would feel guilt for committing crimes.

 

“And even if you hastily raise an alt, you’ll obviously die before even seeing the Minotaur.”

 

Huh? What was this about now?

 

When I looked with curious eyes, Jin-woo pointed with his chin at a user filled with hope.

 

“Beginners like that will die before even arriving. During requests, the path to the destination becomes one giant event stage. Suddenly bandits pop out, natural disasters occur out of nowhere, and monster waves like the ant swarms you experienced pour out. You know. You said you had a hell of a time back then.”

 

“I struggled quite a bit.”

 

I nodded, recalling the time of the Goblin Army.

 

The fatigue felt from countless enemies endlessly rushing in was considerable.

 

“I’ll need to prepare much more thoroughly than expected.”

 

“Of course. Pack plenty of potions and arrows. There are many cases where you use up all your consumables on the way, let alone reaching the boss.”

 

“Thanks.”

 

If it weren’t for Jin-woo, I wouldn’t have known this.

 

“Don’t mention it. Oh, and the Minotaur. That guy is really no joke either. Even at my current level, I can’t catch it alone. I haven’t caught one yet either. Catching that with only parties below level 30? This subjugation order might fail.”

 

“Hmm…”

 

I crossed my arms and nodded at Jin-woo’s words.

 

Actually, I already knew that the Minotaur was strong.

 

[Minotaur] Originally a half-human, half-beast that lives in labyrinths. It has excellent intelligence and displays martial arts like a skilled warrior, and when transformed into a berserker, its strength rivals that of an Ogre. Tip: Though its magic defense is excellent, it’s relatively weak to physical attacks. The horns on its head are hard, but it suffers great damage when they’re destroyed.

 

The brutal phrases written in the Chronicle of Lesser Beings.

 

From that point on, I had roughly guessed it wouldn’t be easy.

 

“Tsk. Nothing is ever simple.”

 

Thousands of competitors, a treacherous journey, and even powerful boss monsters.

 

I clicked my tongue briefly, thinking it would be much more difficult than expected.

 

“It won’t be easy. If I were you, I’d just give up and hunt comfortably instead.”

 

Jin-woo shrugged and made a reasonable suggestion, but I immediately shook my head.

 

“That won’t do.”

 

At my firm voice, a question came back.

 

“Why? Is there some reason?”

 

“I don’t have time.”

 

“Huh?”

 

At his puzzled sound, I explained the current situation.

 

Currently, there are a total of 21 monsters residing in the Black Giant Castle.

 

The numbers have grown, but except for the Giant Spider, they’re all lower-grade monsters.

 

Could these alone really stop the enemies who would invade in four days?

 

“It’ll be tough.”

 

Jin-woo frowned and agreed.

 

“I think it’ll be difficult too. Of course, the enemies might be unexpectedly weak, but that’s too optimistic thinking.”

 

“So you’re going to capture the Minotaur?”

 

“Yeah. If I tame it, its level will match mine so it won’t show its original power, but it’s still a Minotaur. It’ll be a big help.”

 

“But if you fail, you’ll just waste time for nothing.”

 

Jin-woo hit a sore spot.

 

He was right.

 

If successful, it would certainly be a great help in protecting the territory, but if I failed, I’d waste precious time that should be used for defending the territory.

 

I didn’t know how long the raid would take, but it would require quite a lot of time.

 

If things went wrong, I might just throw away precious time on the ground.

 

However, even so. Even with such risks.

 

I smiled leisurely and said.

 

“Originally, everything is high risk, high return, isn’t it?”

 

At that confident statement, Jin-woo couldn’t help but chuckle.

 

* * *

 

After finishing my conversation with Jin-woo, I returned to the territory without delay.

 

It had been just over an hour since I left. But the territory I returned to had quite a lot changed.

 

The ‘Logging Camp’ and ‘Stone Quarry’ that hadn’t had much time left.

 

The two completed buildings showed off their magnificent forms next to the ‘Lower Magic Stone Mine’.

 

“Not bad?”

 

A satisfied smile crossed my lips.

 

When I first saw them, I wondered when they’d ever be built.

 

Seeing the three buildings completed and clustered together like this, a proud sense of achievement filled my chest at having laid the foundation of the territory.

 

I shifted my pleased gaze to the side.

 

There, resources extracted from the completed buildings were neatly arranged.

 

Certainly, as the production buildings got closer, the speed of resource accumulation was incomparably faster than before.

 

“Good. Now with this…”

 

The foundation was laid, and resources were accumulated.

 

Now it was time to move on to the next preparation.

 

I opened the construction window and expanded the ‘Workshop’.

 

[Workshop] A building for crafting various items. Required resources: 20 Low-Grade Magic Stones, 10 Logs, 10 Stones.

 

At the surprisingly low resource consumption, I immediately ordered construction.

 

Monsters with ‘Construction’ aptitude responded to my will and moved in perfect order.

 

The required construction time must have been short too, as it was completed in just about ten seconds.

 

At the smooth progress, I snapped my fingers and approached the workshop.

 

There was exactly one reason I returned to the territory immediately to build the workshop.

 

It was to make arrows for catching the Minotaur.

 

When facing the Giant Spider, I painfully felt the limitations of Lower Grade Taming Arrows.

 

They wouldn’t work at all on the Minotaur, which was a higher-grade monster.

 

I absolutely needed at least Mid-Grade, and if possible, High-Grade Taming Arrows.

 

Fortunately, I had the materials.

 

One Superior Magic Stone that Daron gave me and one Mid-Grade Magic Stone I got from the Giant Spider.

 

“Thank you, Daron.”

 

Though he wouldn’t hear it, I spoke with sincerity.

 

I didn’t realize it at the time, but looking back now, I newly understood what a great gift he had given me.

 

Soon I checked the crafting list with a confident smile.

 

[Mid-Grade Taming Arrow (Rare)] Required resources: 1 Mid-Grade Magic Stone, 3 Logs.

 

[High-Grade Taming Arrow (Unique)] Required resources: 1 Superior Magic Stone, 5 Logs.

 

“High-grade first.”

 

[Crafting High-Grade Taming Arrow.]

 

Along with the notification, I ordered all monsters with ‘Manual Work’ aptitude to craft the High-Grade Taming Arrow.

 

Since it had to be completed before departing for the subjugation, I even deployed the Giant Spider.

 

Time required for crafting: 32:15:52

 

Still quite a long time.

 

I was quite surprised that crafting a single arrow took this long, but I breathed a sigh of relief.

 

If the high-grade arrow took this long, the mid-grade arrow would take less time.

 

It seemed somehow possible to complete before the subjugation.

 

“Just two chances…”

 

The preparations would barely be finished, but it was still a precarious opportunity.

 

There were only two chances to catch the ‘Minotaur’, a higher-grade monster.

 

Just thinking about it made my fingertips tingle, but I twisted the corners of my mouth.

 

“Rather, it reminds me of the old days in a good way.”

 

Those times when I had to stake my life on every step. That precarious tightrope walking where a single mistake led directly to defeat.

 

The sensation from my detestable player days wrapped around my entire body as a thrilling shiver.

 

Two times would be enough.

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