Opportunity in the Game Becomes Reality Episode 220
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Opportunity in the Game Becomes Reality Episode 220
50. Max Level (3)
[This really isn't the atmosphere to enjoy Earth's civilization, is it?]
[What are you talking about!? I can enjoy it!]
[No, Lord Brangish. To us, monsters are nothing more than a threat on the level of flies buzzing around, but do you really want to keep staying at a scene where blood is splattering and entrails are spilling out?]
[What's so bad about strawberry juice and sausages on sticks lying around!]
[Ugh, this is why dragons are...]
[You little . Just because you hit Lordmaster as a Dark Elf, do I look like easy prey to you?]
[Yes, mentally speaking, you do look easy.]
[Oh, is that so?]
Monsters appeared in Beijing, China?
How many, exactly?
I wanted to ask all sorts of questions, but Brangish and Blake kept bickering, so I missed my chance.
[Tsk, nothing we can do. We'll just get reverse-summoned back from Beijing like this.]
I spoke to Blake, who was comparatively more level-headed.
"If possible, could you look into the scale of the monster outbreak and the manner in which they're appearing? If you could record it too, that would be even better."
A request that was practically an order.
Brangish's complaining voice came through at that, but Blake answered as if it were only natural.
[I was planning to check anyway. I'll give you the details after returning to Rondel.]
"Thank you."
With that, the connection was cut off, and as I approached Count Reiers's castle spread out below my feet, knights came rushing over to greet me and Arcia.
"We pay our respects to Your Highness the King."
A greeting as courteous as could be.
But I only nodded half-heartedly.
The knights tilted their heads at my unusual demeanor, but there was nothing I could do.
My mind was elsewhere at the moment.
'What is it the goddess wants?'
I asked myself inwardly.
At first, I thought the goddess's goal was simply to take Earth and incorporate it into Rondel, but looking at what she's been doing to Earth, there were too many questions.
It almost felt like she wanted to torment the people of Earth.
Naturally, I couldn't feel good about it.
If something goes wrong on Earth, my past-life parents staying on this land would inevitably be put in danger.
'If I'd known this would happen, I should have brought Selin along.'
This matter required the counsel of Lord Exceed, the Demon King and reincarnation of Grand Duke Lucas.
Of course, even if Selin had come along, there was no guarantee I'd be able to reach her like last time, but with a dragon who are sworn enemies of the demon race joining us, leaving her in Rondel felt like a mistake.
"Your Highness the King, did my subordinates happen to do something wrong?"
And when Count Reiers appeared out of nowhere looking restless, I finally snapped back to my senses and waved my hand.
"No. My companions are currently in China, and apparently all hell has broken loose there."
This was news that would reach him anyway, since he's now a resident of Earth.
So I shared with him openly all the information about what was currently happening.
"All hell in China, you say? What have those people done this time?"
It seemed that Count Reiers's perception of China wasn't favorable either, probably due to past troubles.
"You know there's a special terrain on Earth called the poisoned lands, right?"
"I do. It's a terrain that appeared after the Great Disaster, isn't it? Blocking people's approach with powerful poison, and inside it, mutant monster insects are swarming..."
"Monsters are pouring out from that poisoned land as the epicenter. And they're the kind we see here in Rondel orcs, trolls, ogres, and the like."
"What?"
Count Reiers wore a look of bewilderment.
Naturally.
I had no idea what was going on either, so how could he?
"Could the goddess be planning to destroy Earth?"
"If that were her intention, there would have been far easier ways."
"That's true."
I had already told him that all the anomalies happening now might be the goddess's doing.
As a devout believer of the church, he naturally showed a skeptical reaction, but in truth, there was no being other than the goddess capable of pulling off something of this scale.
Neither the Heavenly Tribe, nor the demon race, nor the dragons could do it.
Moreover, now that Rondel's monsters had started appearing, that claim could only be treated as all but confirmed fact.
"By the way, if we're dealing with monsters like trolls with rapid regeneration or ogres with powerful defenses, China's going to have a rough time too."
"Probably so."
A troll's rapid regeneration makes it near-immortal unless you blow its head off in one shot or sever its neck, and an ogre's defense is basically a living tank.
They wouldn't be easy to deal with using standard personal firearms.
A tank or anti-tank missile might be able to handle them, but monsters aren't stupid enough to just stand there they'd avoid enemies that are too hard or too dangerous to face.
And if monsters with Mental-series attack abilities like lamias or harpies, undead monsters with infection abilities, or high-tier monsters above ogres show up, the damage would spiral out of control.
"First, we need to find out whether this is happening only in China or all over the world."
I had just been on South Korean soil.
Fortunately, nothing seemed different there, but there's no rule saying this anomaly only has to happen in China.
So I asked Count Reiers to look into it, and he nodded immediately.
"Understood. I'll investigate through the South Korean government."
A satisfactory answer and a satisfactory attitude.
"But we don't need to go out of our way to help China, right?"
I'm not a philanthropist.
I act according to my goals, nothing more.
I don't have any acquaintances in China, and helping them would mean setting aside time just for that why would I go that far for a third party?
Especially for China.
"Well, wouldn't China's vaunted military be enough to hold them off?"
"True, this world's weapons aren't something to underestimate."
So I brushed it off as none of my business.
It might come off as cold, but the time I can spend on Earth is only 20 to 30 minutes once a month with one Rondel month equaling three Earth days.
There is nowhere near enough time to protect other countries, including China.
That's nowhere near enough time to protect other countries, including China.
My priorities on Earth are, first, protecting my parents and Bucheon where they live; second, Reiers County; and third, South Korea.
Everything else, frankly, I don't have the time to worry about.
"But where are you going?"
With that, I led Count Reiers through the castle until we reached a spire, where I opened a subspace.
"This is communication equipment built to Rondel standards. Once installed, the island will be able to use existing communication gear."
"Oh! Thank you! We've been so inconvenienced all this time!"
"I've also enabled access to library searches, communities, games, and other online services, but they're all pirated copies, so if any problems come up, you'll have to handle them yourselves."
"Ah, that won't be easy. We don't train programmers in our domain..."
"Then compile a list of the errors as they come up. I happen to have expert personnel, so I'll fix them every time I visit."
"Thank you. And I'm sorry."
"Haha, don't worry about it. I do this because I enjoy it."
With that, I opened a subspace again and pulled out cylindrical equipment about the size of a car.
"What are those?"
"Multi-purpose satellites for use in Reiers County."
New equipment infused with the essence of the Lawrence Mage Tower.
I brought six satellites in total.
Their functions are exactly three: communication, surveillance, and attack.
First, the communication function creates a Rondel-style communication zone spanning a 300-kilometer diameter around a designated area via the satellites.
Since Earth's mana is far thinner than Rondel's, transmitting signals using atmospheric mana isn't possible, so these serve as relay towers built for that purpose.
Second, the surveillance function works like Earth's spy satellites.
The difference from Earth's, though, is that I added an x-ray function, so spaces hidden behind obstacles can also be examined.
Third and last, the attack function fires Mithril-coated metal rods to scorch the surface.
It's a strategic weapon that threatens enemies the way a nuke does.
It could be easily blocked with magic, but nothing in Earth's air defense can intercept it.
"The attack function really needs to be used with careful thought."
"Just know that such a function exists, and don't use it unless absolutely necessary."
"Yes, I will do so."
These pieces of equipment were not things that had been used in existing Rondel.
So a considerable amount of manpower and effort had to be poured into their creation.
I didn't need to explain this hard work to Count Reiers in detail he would understand on his own.
He kept wearing a moved expression over the gift, so full of consideration.
Then, as if he had made up his mind, he knelt on one knee before me.
"I, Elliot Reiers, wish to serve His Highness Adrian El Lawrence, the Grand Duke, as my liege lord."
When their master knelt, the Knights who followed him also dropped to their knees in droves before me.
I had been planning to propose he join my ranks first anyway.
But since he knelt of his own accord before I could even ask, I was nothing but grateful.
I placed a hand on his shoulder with a smile and said.
"There's no reason to refuse. I accept."
As of today, Reiers County was incorporated under the Duchy of Lawrence.
The Lord, Count Reiers, became my vassal as well, and the residents of the domain became my people.
I took a sword out of my subspace and laid it upon his kneeling shoulder.
"As of this moment, I hereby appoint Elliot Reiers as Count of the Duchy of Lawrence."
That sword was a saber with striking ornate decorations, one of the Force Swords left behind by Grand Duke Lucas.
"This sword is a Force Sword left to me by Grand Duke Lucas. I bestow it upon you as a token that you are now my man."
"G-Grand Duke Lucas's "
"It's a weapon made by blending Dragonbone and Mithril. It should be more than enough to serve as an heirloom of the Reiers family."
"More than enough? This is a gift beyond my station!"
After all, the bestowal of a treasured sword was an essential part of a pledge of fealty.
That sword, made of Dragonbone and Mithril, was unmistakably a treasure... but.
Regrettably, with the Holy Sword at the top, along with an Orichalcum Sword, an adamantite Sword, a pure Dragonbone Sword, and all manner of treasured blades in my possession, it was nothing more than a spare weapon of no particular significance.
But generally speaking, Dragonbone was a treasure hard to obtain even for a thousand gold pieces, and with Grand Duke Lucas's name attached to it on top of that, Count Reiers, who received it as a gift, even shed tears of emotion.
That was the moment I gained an exceedingly loyal subordinate.
* * *
Beijing, China.
"Wow, this is awesome free shopping."
Not only did he have luxury watches dangling all over both wrists, but Blake shook his head and moved on at the sight of Brangish, who had stuffed all sorts of gear and food into his subspace.
The place he was heading to was home to poisoned lands where countless monsters came pouring out.
Blake brushed off the monsters charging at him as if they were a nuisance and pressed forward, soon discovering something strange.
"A temple?"
The poisoned lands were filled with monsters and mutated venomous insects, but at their center stood a pure white temple that clashed with its surroundings, standing firm.
Naturally, Blake couldn't help but question it, and Bramgish, who had been idly following him, felt the same.
"I don't sense any presence coming from inside?"
Blake approached and placed a hand on the temple, and soon experienced a strange phenomenon.
Divine power swept over his body as if examining him.
Naturally, Blake, who possessed dark attributes, pulled his hand back in displeasure and immediately, a strange message appeared before his eyes.
[A powerful anomalous power already resides within your body.]
[Failed to acquire Gift.]
It was a short message, but one laden with many meanings and possibilities.