ACT 4 War is Business

[TL Notes:Some people were asking questions about the house situation from the last chapter. Gyopolife left an informative comment which explained it so Ive copied it below. If you want more information then you can also go to this link:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeonse

Gyeopolife: The 80 million won deposit is jeonse. Korea has a unique housing rental system in which you can deposit 50%-80% of the home/apt value and live there for 2 years. After the contract ends you receive your deposit back.]

We dont have much time.

Ark had triggered a coup and established a military government. The Nakujuk had thousands of troops while the Baran clan only had 500~1000 warriors.However, Ark knew that the Letter Movement Tower had already been completed in the valley village.It was make it easier for them to move more troops to the south.

But the letter movement has limitations on its uses. It needed the Letter Movement Orb was required for the reception tower. And the Nakujuk shouldnt possess that many of the orbs.

Why?

Shambala asked slowly.Ark kindly explained it to Shambala.

There are various reasons but the main reason is that they only built one reception tower in the village. The Magic Institute previously determined that letter movement used some kind of radio waves. And it can only move a limited number of people until the necessary energy recharges.

I see what you mean.

Shambala finally started to understand the circumstances.

If they had enough Letter Movement Orbs then they wouldve constructed a lot of reception towers for fast transfer of troops. But there are no signs of that. In other words, there is no point in them constructing several towers. But the tower they constructed is sufficient for the Letter Movement Orbs they have.

Thats right.

To put it simply, it was like constructing something in Starcraft.If there were overflowing materials then they could construct a lot of barracks. However, there was no point in increasing the barracks when there were only a few materials.

Thats why there is no time. If there is a limit to how many troops they can move at one time then theyll probably attack when they have the maximum amount. So the Nakujuk will probably attack in one week when they have 5,000 troops.

Wait, 5000 in one week? Where did you come up with such a number?

..Of course I did some maths.

Ark laughed at Shambalas question with a twinkle in his eye.

Beseutyu previously checked the rate of construction of the Reception tower in the valley village. It took around one week in reality. But the reception tower wasnt finished yet. They just moved the Letter Movement Orb there after 1 week. So looking at towers degree of completion and the amount of troops they were able to move, I can estimate that they will move 300~400 in one day after the tower is completed.

That means we have to be ready for war in one week. If they can increase their troops by 300~400 in one day then theyll have an extra 2,100~2,800 in a week. They currently have 2,000 people so they would end up with 5,000 troops.

Does everything make sense now Shambala?

Ark tried to act cool by pretending to raise invisible glasses.Shambala turned his face and snorted.

Sheesh, what a smartass..

Im not being a smartass, just showing my brains incredible reasoning power.

Anyway, the uncertain enemy troops now became known. It gave Arks group one week. It the meantime, they had to be prepared to fight 5,000 troops.But Ark no longer needed to involve himself in this. Arks usual code of conduct was to entrust it to people who can do well.It was stupid to do it alone when someone else might be able to do it better. And didnt Ark now have JusticeMan who was a military expert?

JusticeMan ajusshi, can you do it?

Huhuhu, I was in a similar situation when confronting anti-government guerrillas in South America.

Anti-government guerrillas in South America?The more he heard of it, the most he thought JusticeMans past sounded like an action movie. The fact that he wasnt bluffing was more frightening.It was why people like Lee Myung-ryong were so respectful towards JusticeMan. Anyway, Ark delegated all authority regarding military matters to him.

In fact, Arks role as the Commander was quite mixed.In New World, dozens of people was classified as a party, hundreds of people as a raid and thousands of people separated into corps.In a party, everyone had the same authority.However, the configuration becomes complicated for a raid group. The raid commander could appoint a leader from each party. Then the organization became further complicated when it came to the corps.The leader of the troop would appoint two deputies who served underneath him.

Ark selected JusticeMan and Lariette to become the deputies. JusticeMan naturally took over all roles regarding military matters. And Lariette was an Innocence Knight so she could apply various buffs and bonuses to the entire corps.After leading Dark Eden, Ark was already aware of the attack configurations so he knew how the special effects of the deputies appointed could be applied. And right now, the one with the most powerful special effect was Lariette the Innocence Knight.

Ill work hard.

Lariettes face became determined after she received the title.Once he chose JusticeMan, he left further military matters up to him.

The most urgent problem is building defense military facilities and moving military equipment, as well as training the troops we conscripted from the Baran clan to fill up the insufficient numbers.

Have you considered a base?

Beseutyu gave me a rough map of the southern region of the Netherworld. Every region in the Netherworld is separated by mountain ranges. The Nakujuk in the valley village is currently stationed in the south-east. It they want to advance to the south-west then theyll inevitably have to pass through here.

JusticeMan spread out the map and pointed towards one spot.It was a canyon located in the lower section of the Golgi Mountains.

I heard from Beseutyu that there was a long abandoned castle in this area. It is almost in ruins but it is better than nothing. Hopefully well be able to convert it to a stronghold. Once weve repaired Haman castle then Ill have to train the troops.

Will it be ready in a week?

JusticeMan considered for a while before asking Ark a question.

How long do we need to endure to achieve your goal?

It might not be obvious but his goal wasnt to win the war.The Baran defeating the Nakujuk who came to the south and then marching north to the Nakujuk wasnaturally impossible. In this war, his goal was to stop the Nakujuk conquering the Netherworld and gaining some time.Ark had to hold on until the right time.

If we consume one week on war preparations then the remaining time is one week. Well have to hang on for a minimum of one week.

Well be able to do that much anyway.

Thus they moved to Haman fortress and began preparations for war.It was also the first time all the Baran tribes in the south gathered together.Thanks to Ark holding the elders hostage, there was no real issues. Thus they gathered 2,000 Baran troops in a matter of days. Combined with the warriors and the Dark Brothers, the combined forces were 3,800. It couldnt compare to the Nakujuk, but they might be able to fight against them with those numbers.

But only the 800 Dark Brothers can be used properly. The rest were just extra. There wasnt enough time for proper military trainingbut he might be able to train their individual skills.

Thus the Baran group was given full-fledged military training.JusticeMan also divided them into troops based on their specialities. And he left their training to the rehabilitation members with the right skills.The 1,000 Baran warriors were divided into the assault groups. Of course, the ones who took over their training were the Guardian=Assaulter which was Bul-kkun and two other people.The members of the Baran clan experienced in cartography and hunting was organized into the scouting unit. Yapsab and two other members who changed to Guardian=Scout took charge of this unit.And the farmers and architects made up the Engineer unit and they were led by Bu Dong-san and two others who had changed professions to Guardian=Engineer.And finally, a number of old veterans like Beseutyu was trained by Jjak-tung who had changed professions to Guardian=Strategist.

Ark felt a little worried about JusticeMans decisions.

JusticeMan ajusshi is an expert but the other hyungs have never trained anyone so will they be able to teach the Baran?

However, Arks worries disappeared on the first day of the training camp.

The children cant get it straight?

If you cant do it well then youll have to duck walk for two kilometres!

Hieeeek!

The Baran clan burst out screaming.The rehabilitation members had received personal training in tactics from JusticeMan. However, the rehabilitation members werent strangers to it.All the rehabilitation members had been called for the mandatory military training in South Korea. During those two years, they trained in tactics, discipline and drills.While it didnt show in their social lives, all of the men in South Korea had military training.It wasnt an exaggeration to say that it was South Koreas potential.In addition, the rehabilitation members were people with gloomy pasts who used to live in the dark. It was a requirement of those organizations to discipline their subordinates.Thanks to that, the Baran clan experienced a nightmarish training in the Netherworld under their dreadful instructors.

Eh? What am I seeing?

You cant die from this level of discipline.

Even the reserve corps in South Korea can train to this degree.

If you fall behind in this simulation training then brace yourselves!

The slogan of our unit is defeat evil!

Each of the rehabilitation members led hundreds of troops so they burned with competition.They pressed the Baran hard because of that.

Oooh, Im going to die from this training.

I want to fight with the Nakujuk as soon as possible.

The Baran were so tired that they were even saying those kinds of things.Anyway, the training was effective. Two days later, or 6 days in game time, the forces had managed to get used to the system and were able to somewhat take advantage of each others specialities.In particular, the assault troops showed tremendous growth.Although they looked like refugees, they were people who had inherited the Barans warrior lineage.The rehabilitation members training developed their potential and strength and they were now able to match the Nakujuk warriors. Their forgotten battle skills also manifested quickly.In addition, the scouting unit and the Dark Brothers went through joint training while the engineer troops levelled up their skills by repairing Haman Fortress.

Okay, now I dont have to worry about that.

Ark nodded his head with satisfaction after observing some of the Barans training. But the next day Ark had to face a problem he never considered.

Ark-nim, gathering the weapon supplies isnt as easy as I thought.

Lariette sighed as she spoke.While the rehabilitation members were assigned to training, Lariette had been responsible for requisitioning munitions from the southern villages.The Baran clan was a race which centred on farming, raising livestock or extracting minerals. So when the elders first started requisitioning, they were able to gather an overflowing amount of food and minerals. But they could not gather the most important military materials, weapons and armour.Of course, even the Baran clan had blacksmiths.However they were only experienced with rakes or shovels and had never created a weapon. Not only was there no weapons, the Baran clans equipment was like the Bronze Age while the Nakujuk was the Iron Age.

Daeng kang!

Huk! The handle broke!

It was normal for the handle of a spear to break during training.It the handle broke then the spear or javelin wouldnt be able to be thrown.There was no need to explain the importance of weapons in a war. It wasnt an exaggeration to say the performance of the weapon affect the combat power in a game.

Unbelievable. Every time something is fixed then another problem occurs.

Ark continuously sighed.Weapons production was the most important problem that needed to be solved at the moment. Even if he started properly training a blacksmith now, it would take a while for them to be able to produce weapons.It took a great deal of time and money to become a skilled blacksmith.

Well, the Baran clan is able to obtain the ores necessary for production..

Wait, why had he never thought about that?

Leave the problem to me.

Ark immediately used the Dimensional Movement Powder to return to Lancel village. He visited the raccoon clan and showed them the ore from the Netherworld.

This ore. What do you think about it?

Ohu, it is a very high purity ore. Where did you get it from?

The raccoons were craftsmen so they felt greedier for the ore than money.As expected, the raccoon clan showed signs of desire as they were shown the ore.Ark grinned and made a proposal.

In fact, Im visiting with a request. Would you make weapons for me if I supplied you with this ore? As much as possible. I really need weapons so Ill also supply the coal and whetstone. Please take the ore as payment for the weapons.

Youll pay for all of it using the ore?

The raccoon clan thought for a moment before nodding.

We accept. Ore is similar to money for us so its not a problem. And this is a good ore so were quite greedy for it.

That was the method Ark came up with.He took the ores from the Baran clan and commissioned the raccoon clans to produce weapons.

Now the problem of weapons supply will be solved. In addition..

Ark laughed after the raccoons entered into the weapons supply agreement.The munitions were the property of the NPC.Although Ark was the Commander, he couldnt just embezzle it. So although Ark saw the munitions piled up in Haman Fortress, he could only swallow his saliva. Then he had a brilliant idea after hearing Lariettes words.Currently, Ark made all the decisions as the Commander.He couldnt take the war materials, but he could use the goods to barter for war preparations.

Im in the middle so I wont be able to profit if I deal directly with the raccoons.

The raccoons signed a contract to trade one weapon for one ore and coal. There was no way for someone in the middle to profit.But who was Ark? Using cheap tricks, wouldnt Ark be able to obtain coffee from a well?

Huhuhu, theres also a handling fee when trading through an intermediary agent.

The method Ark devised involved Arks Comprehensive Store in Lancel village.Using this method, Arks store received 1,000 ores from the Netherworld. At this stage, the ores still belonged to the NPCs. That was the key.The store would pass the ores to the raccoons who created 10 weapons out of them. The deluxe weapons of the raccoon family had considerable value to the Baran who didnt have a method of developing advanced weapons. So during the war, he could barter and increase the value to 1,200 ores.Ark would then hand over the ores again for weapons production.In other words, except for the first time he paid 1,000 ores he was able to get an extra 200 ores with every transaction afterwards. It was like someone else arranging the table while he picked up the spoon. This was just his handling charge.

I get 200 ores for every 10 weapons. It is enough to create one weapon. Presently, we need approximately 1,000 weapons and armour. All that work will give me 20,000 ores. I could make a profit of at least 2,000 gold if I could sell all the weapons and armours!

All Ark had to do was go back and forth between Lancel village and the Netherworld carrying the ores.Of course, he had to use the Dimensional Movement Powder every time but there was still a lot left. Besides, was the powder necessary once the Netherworld rose to middle earth? It would be like swimming on land!

Hahaha, war is also money!

Buksil, you will carry the weapons between Lancel village and the Netherworld!

Ark made Buksil who was a profession merchant in charge of the trade route.At the end of the deal, Ark would be able to embezzle approximately 2,000 gold. In addition, the Baran clans lack of equipment was quickly solved.At that time, Ark also discovered that the weapons produced by the blacksmiths werent all the same.Just like Ark could create an A la carte dish, the blacksmiths created 50~60 deluxe weapons. Of course, the stats for the deluxe items were significantly better than an equivalent item.

A Masterpiece Adamantium Sword (Magic)

Weapon type: One-handed sword

Attack: 33~38

Durability: 400/400

Weight: 50

User restriction: Level 200 and more

An adamantium sword created using the ore from the Netherworld. The craftsman put his heart and soul into it and created a rarely seen masterpiece. Compared to a regular item, the performance of the deluxe item is at least 10% better. In addition, it will steadily make fine adjustments to the users hand.

<Option: Probability of destroying armour +20%, Reaction rate +10%>