Kaizar and Paulean’s existences were merits that were close to a ‘cheat key’ in a package game given to Ian.

However, it wasn’t like there were no problems either.

“Retainer, we need to go do a defensive territory battle… Can you not help us?”

“I don’t want to. It’s too bothersome.”

Kaizar lied on the pavilion in the backyard of the Domain Manor and was taking a nap.

In order to persuade him, Ian spread out his logic diligently.

“No, if we get our territory taken from us, you can’t even lie down there. Mustn’t we defend it?”

However, it was inadequate in moving Kaizar.

“Go, Lord guy. Go quickly, and protect my sleeping spot.”

“…”

Like a plaster cast that was displayed in a museum, he didn’t even budge an inch from his original posture as he remained lying down.

In the end, Ian couldn’t help but give up and leave for the defensive territory battle.

“Preparations are complete, Lord.”

Still, while looking at Paulean, who faithfully completed his commands, Ian was comforted.

‘That’s right, At least I have Paulean. Even if just Paulean helped, there probably won’t be a case where we lose in a territory war.’

Ian, who was buoyant with the dream that he would sweep up territory wars with the central continent’s bases accompanied by Kaizar, nodded his head with a disappointed expression.

“Alright, Paulean, let’s go.”

* * *

It was the first defensive territory war in a while.

Without having to drag it on long, the Lotus Guild succeeded in defending their territory within just three matches.

Their opponent guild was a guild that was even weaker than the Polaris Guild from a while ago, and the Lotus Guild, who had gathered up a lot of strength in the meantime, had succeeded in defending without even getting the chance to use all of their fighting power.

On top of that, the day that the defensive territory war ended, the requirements for Ollibus Village were met and the merge happened together as well.

• You have succeeded in absorbing Ollibus Village (Rank: Village) as a territory of the Lotus Guild.

• You can decide the name of the base. (If you do not decide a name, the name ‘Ollibus’ will automatically be kept.)

Ian momentarily thought about what to name it.

Herz, who saw that, fired a needle.

“Yo, don’t. The name Ollibus is fine, so why are you trying to make a new name for it? You trying to give it a name like Bbookbbook?”

At Herz’s words, Bbookbbook, who was lying down like a bump on a log, turned his gaze.

Glare-.

However, Herz wasn’t fazed, and Ian frankly agreed as he nodded his head.

“Alright. Then we’ll leave the name as is, I guess.”

As he confirmed the name as Ollibus, system messages continuously popped up.

• A leader of ‘Ollibus’ Village is required.

• Please select a user amongst your guild members who will become the leader of Ollibus Village.

Ian turned his head to look at Herz.

“Yo, do you want to do it?”

At those words, Herz shook his head as he replied.

“No, let’s give it to Kroban hyung[1]. It’s still going to take me a little bit to get a title. Since Kroban hyung is the only one with a title right now, if we appoint that hyung as leader, then we’ll be able to raise Ollibus to a Domain-rank soon as well.”

“Oh, you haven’t received a title yet?”

“Yeah. I think it will most likely happen within the next few weeks.”

After completing a couple more smaller settings outside of that, along with Kroban’s appointment as Ollibus’ village head, reward messages popped up.

• As the Lotus Guild’s base size has expanded, the guild’s Fame has increased by 10 thousand.

• As there are two bases that belong to Lotus Guild, the Lotus Domain has been designated as the ‘core base’.

• The trade between Lotus Domain and Ollibus Village has been invigorated.

• Culture Points have increased by 15.

• Economy Points have increased by 15.

While looking at the variety of supplementary productivity improvements that additionally continued, Ian wore a pleased expression.

‘Shall we check the requirements needed in order to promote to a Large Domain?’

And as he opened the information tab, the promotion requirements in order to become a Large Domain popped up.

[Box] Requirements for the Promotion to ‘Large Domain’ status

The level of the core base’s leader user must be 130 or higher.

The title of the core base’s leader user must be ‘Viscount’ or higher.

There must be 3 or more bases affiliated with the guild.

All of the bases affiliated with the guild must be ‘Domain’-rank or higher.

The guild Fame must be 500 thousand or higher.

Herz, who checked the promotion requirements with Ian, examined them one by one.

“How picky. Firstly, the first requirement is…”

Herz turned his gaze towards Ian.

“That you need to be lv 130 or higher, so what level are you at right now?”

“127. I think I’ll most likely reach 128 soon.”

“…?”

Herz, who was about to appeal that they weren’t even close with the first requirement yet, wore a flustered expression.

“Yo, it hasn’t even been that long since you hit lv 120, so how are you already lv 127? How exactly do you level up?”

And Ian responded with an expression as if it was no big deal.

“I rolled around a little doing an Empire Quest… Anyways, I just need to hit lv 130 soon, so let’s think about the other requirements instead.”

Herz momentarily wore a dumbfounded expression.

“Sure, well, it isn’t the first or second time that I’ve been thrown off because of you, anyways…”

However, shortly after, he accepted the situation and continued his words.

“Since you’re a Viscount, we’ve satisfied the second requirement.”

“That’s right.”

“Hmm… If we combine the third and fourth requirements, we need to have three bases that are all Domain-rank or higher, so if we just expand with one more place, then this one’s all set. Since Ollibus will become a Domain-rank soon.”

Ian nodded his head as he replied.

“That’s right. The most urgent thing right now is increasing our bases by one more, and the second thing that we need to do is raise our guild Fame. What is our guild Fame at right now?”

“It’s at 420 thousand.”

“For about 80 thousand, will doing about 20 guild wars be enough…?”

While looking at Ian, who spoke as if it was insignificant, Herz wore a dumbfounded expression.

“Yo, it’s not if we do it 20 times, but could you correct it to that we need to win 20 times consecutively?”

However, there was no change in Ian’s expression.

“That, well… We just need to win.”

“…”

“And I also have another method of raising our guild Fame.”

“What kind of method…?”

Ian grinned as he opened his mouth.

“Advancement into the central continent.”

“What…? You need to be able to get through the Wasteland and Shikar Desert in order to get there.”

At Herz’s counter-question, Ian rummaged through his inventory as he pulled something out.

And the thing in his hand was a luxurious scroll that was made with red cloth.

As he opened it up, Ian added on.

“If it’s with the royal guards of the empire, then it’s possible.”

* * *

“Lord, the Guild Master is calling for you.”

The Oaklan Guild, who were fiercely competing with the Splendor Guild for 3rd and 4th place in the Korean server’s guild rankings.

Because the DarkRuna Guild and the Titan Guild, who held 1st and 2nd place, were affiliated with the Kaimon Empire, in reality, the Oaklan Guild was no different from being the strongest guild amongst the guilds affiliated with the Luspel Empire.

And ‘Limlong’, the one in 1st place in the Assassin user rankings, was in the executive team of this Oaklan Guild.

As he was only in the early lv 120s, he was over 10 levels lower in comparison to the top users in the Oaklan Guild, but thanks to the fact that he was 1stplace in the rankings for one whole class, and he was born with a combat sense, Limlong took position as a user that was quite influential even within the Oaklan Guild.

“Understood. I will go immediately.”

‘Samuel Jin’, the Guild Master of the Oaklan Guild, was a high-level user that shone as 1st place in the Archer-class rankings.

If the style of Shyakran, the Master of Titan Guild and 1st place in the Warrior-class rankings, was leading the guild with his natural-born combat sense and charisma, then Samuel Jin was a person that was almost opposite that.

It didn’t mean that he had a lower combat sense, but rather than internal gaming abilities, Samuel Jin’s abilities made him a leader that lead his guild using his insight and intelligence, as well as his strategies.

And Limlong had received high praise from Samuel Jin, who was like this, and was being taken in.

This was a part that could be realized just from seeing the fact that he gave a leadership position for one of the five bases that were affiliated with Oaklan Guild to Limlong.

“Jin, I heard you were looking for me.”

After discovering Limlong, who had entered the manor, Samuel Jin greeted him with a welcoming expression.

“Oh, Limlong, you’ve come.”

“Didn’t you say that the departure for the expedition is two hours from now? Did something happen…”

At Limlong’s words, Samuel Jin shook his head as he spoke.

“It’s not like there is something going on. I just obtained some information.

“What kind…?”

“It’s the information that the expeditions of DarkRuna Guild and Titan Guild have already approached the central continent.”

“…!”

In order to enter the central continent, they needed to get through Shikar Desert and Sky Highlands.

That was no different for the guilds affiliated with Kaimon Empire entering from the east, or the guilds affiliated with Luspel Empire that were entering from the west.

Since the desert spread out endlessly on either side of the central continent.

“How were they able to get through in such a short time?”

“It looks like they entered by force even if they had to put up with some damage. No matter how strong their fighting power is, I believe that they would have received quite a bit of damage.”

The Oaklan Guild had proceeded to thoroughly prepare earlier in order to enter the central continent.

They had prepared enough food for all of the guild members to withstand over a month, and in the meantime, they released all of the goods that they had stocked up and set up all of the equipment of their guild members to the highest level.

On the other hand, the Titan or DarkRuna Guild most likely entered immediately after the Large Update finished.

“Hmm… For preoccupancy, it seems they put up with the risks.”

Samuel Jin nodded his head.

“That’s right. Their choice was also quite a good choice, but if looked at in the long run, they will regret it.”

Limlong asked with a puzzled expression.

“Why’s that? Firstly, if they have at least penetrated into the central continent, couldn’t they preoccupy the bases in the central continent and just allocate resources including food there?”

Samuel Jin grinned as he shook his head.

“No, they will probably not be able to do that.”

“…?”

“The ground in the central continent is incredibly barren. In order to allocate resources there, it will at least take a couple months.”

However, even despite that explanation, Limlong still had questions.

“The northern continent was cold and barren at first. However, I remember it being able to supply and demand quite a bit of resources in its own way…”

Samuel Jin shook his head.

“The northern and central continents are different.”

“…?”

“It’s similar in infertility, but in the northern continent, there were NPCs that resided there originally, while on the other hand, in the central continent, there’s absolutely nothing.”

Limlong, who was finally convinced by his words completely, nodded his head.

“Ah-ha… In that case, there will definitely be a problem.”

“Most likely, both the Titan guys and the DarkRuna guys. They will suffer a little, huhu.”

“Then, how do you plan on moving now?”

Samuel Jin’s words continued.

“We will move much later than our plan. To be honest, I called you over in order to say this.”

Limlong wore a confused expression again.

Samuel Jin’s words continued.

“Why’s that?”

“This is because other guilds in the Luspel camp have begun to quickly move after hearing the information that the Kaimon Empire camp has arrived first.”

After taking a moment to breath, his words continued.

“We will follow right behind the path that the other guilds have created, and minimize the damage received as much as possible, while entering the central continent. This is because no matter how quickly we move at this point, we won’t be able to arrive quicker than the DarkRuna guys or the Titans anyways.”

Simply put, he was saying that in a situation where first profit was impossible that they shouldn’t overdo it and go with a method where they could be more relaxed and minimize the damage.

However, there were two variables that Samuel Jin didn’t think of.

The first was the existence of the new commodity called ‘Specialty Points’.

The second was the fact that there could even be a user that arrived in the central continent before the Titan Guild and the DarkRuna Guild.

[1] Hyung = what a younger male calls a related or close, older male.