Chapter 37

Chapter 37: Way of the Sovereign (4)

"Spare you?”

"T-that’s correct . Please spare me . "

Rodiam pleaded with a tearful expression . Kang-jun was dumbfounded .

"You just tried to kill me . Why should I let you live?”

"Y-you are the one who invaded this place . I-I was just defending myself . ”

His words weren't wrong . However, Kang-jun still had a cold expression .

"Then you must know the reason for your death . I’ve come to occupy this place . I have to kill you for this place to become my territory . ”

“I will be a loyal subordinate if you spare me . Y-you are deserving of becoming my master . ”

His shoulders shrank back . The face of a dejected cat . Rodiam looked really pitiful . But the two wide eyes were quite serious .

Kang-jun glanced at Keirun .

"Keirun, will it be an advantage to leave him alive as my subordinate?”

At that time, Keirun had 10 gnomes shivering in front of him .

Two intermediate gnomes and eight inferior gnomes . After Kang-jun defeated Rodiam, they had stopped resisting and sat down .

Keirun walked over and whispered with a smile on his face .

'This is a windfall . You should keep the treasure . ’

'This person is a treasure?’

‘Most advanced gnomes would rather die than be someone’s subordinate . Their pride is very strong . Such an absurd thing happened because of your charisma . ’

'My charisma?’

‘Of course . Rodiam won’t even look at someone with less than six charisma . ’

‘My charisma is a little bit higher . ’

‘Come to think of it, my pride didn’t mind bowing to Lord at all . The senior ghost Hayun probably had similar thoughts . All of us became your subordinates because of your high charisma . ’

That was the case .

Kang-jun had eight charisma points . Furthermore, the Demonic Dragon’s Ring had an option of +3 charisma . That was a total of 11 charisma .

Therefore, he managed to get Keirun, Hayun and now Rodiam as a reward . Even though he met them by chance, they entered his household due to the power of charisma .

‘Huhu, this is the reason . ’

There was a satisfied smile on Kang-jun’s face .

It was worthwhile to have lower strength, agility and intelligence in the beginning in exchange for high charisma and good luck .

Keirun whispered .

‘It will be easier to obtain resources with an advanced gnome . Hidden mines could be found and you can increase the number of workers . Rodiam’s subordinates will naturally be yours as well . ’

Keirun pointed to the 10 gnomes still sitting down . The golem ratigers and giant ratians were standing in front of them .

Kang-jun stayed silent as he thought about it and Rodiam begged one last time .

"Take me . "

[Would you like to take Rodiam into your household? Yes/No]

[If Rodiam joins your household then the conditions for Mission 6 will be automatically achieved . ]

He finally received the message .

Kang-jun wanted to make sure that accepting Rodiam would fulfill the conditions of his mission . Now there was no reason to hesitate .

Kang-jun stroked Rodiam’s head and said .

"Okay . I accept . From now on, call me Lord . ”

Rodiam’s face lit up .

“I-I understand, ong . ”

“ . . . Ong? What is with that odd dialect?”

"It is an honorific, ong . I will use honorifics now that you are my lord, ong . ”

Rodiam attached the honorific ‘ong’ whenever he talked to Kang-jun .

[Rodiam has joined your household . ]

[Rodiam will become your faithful subordinate in the world of Hwanmong . ]

At that moment, Rodiam’s body recovered from its injuries . Rodiam jumped to his feet before bowing low again .

"I give my allegiance to Lord, ong . ”

"Right . "

Kang-jun patted Rodiam’s head . Rodiam rubbed his head against Kang-jun’s hand . It was the typical behaviour of a cat .

[The Sungkwang building has been completely occupied . ]

[Mission 6 has been accomplished . ]

He finally finished Mission 6 . Messages appeared one after another .

[As a reward, enough experience will be given to increase your level . ]

[500 nodes has been given as a reward . ]

[You have learnt Skill Exploitation as a reward . ]

His level rose by one to Lv12 . In addition, he gained 500 nodes as a reward .

The skill window was also updated .

[Soul Exploitation (Passive)]

-Sovereign only skill .

The people defeated in the punishment field and battle field can be summoned to Hwanmong and put to work .

-It will be automatically triggered when the target is asleep .

-If a workplace is built, the amount of work and harvesting can increase .

“Soul Exploitation?”

Keirun’s eyes shone after he heard Kang-jun’s puzzled question .

“Oh! You received a really useful skill . That is quite good . The people you don’t like in reality can be worked to your heart’s content in Hwanmong, but only after they are defeated in the punishment or battle fields . ”

"They will work in the dream?”

“Yes . They won’t remember anything that happened in the dream . Even if they remember it, they will just think that it is a nightmare . Huhu, they will be dragged to Hwanmong and worked to death . ”

"I’m glad they won’t remember . ”

If they remembered . then living a normal life would be impossible . They would be dragged into Hwanmong and exploited while sleeping .

"In the future, all those taken to the punishment field, battle field and the ones you have absorbed black magic energy from can be the target of Soul Exploitation . ”

“I can bring all of them here?”

“Yes . ”

Kang-jun was amazed . Even the people he absorbed black magic energy from once or twice? Of course, he only aimed for those trying to harm others .

"They will come automatically after falling asleep?”

“Just like the barrack, there is a limit on the capacity without a workshop . Lord can select a destination or exclude them . ”

The imported workers had weak attack power so they were mainly used for basic chores, production activities, harvesting, logging, mining, etc . However, they also played a role in defending the base if an enemy invaded .

It was at that moment .

[The skill Soul Exploitation has been automatically activated . ]

[There is no workshop so a maximum of two people can be summoned . ]

[Cho Sang-jin has been summoned to the base . ]

[Hwang Seong-gil has been summoned to the base . ]

Cho Sang-jin had been drinking alcohol and fell asleep early today .

Usually he was active during the night and sleep in the day . However, he fell asleep at 10 p . m . today due to his drinking . He wa surprised to suddenly find himself standing in a strange place .

“Fuck! Where is this place?”

Then both eyes suddenly widened .

"Seong-gil hyung-nim! Why is Hyung-nim here?”

“Eh? You?”

Hwang Seong-gil had fallen asleep in his bed only to wake up in a strange place .

A familiar figure was standing in front of him . It was Cho Sang-jin . Cho Sang-jun was his junior in the services office .

"You bastard! Why did I come here after eating and drinking alcohol?”

"I'm not sure, Hyung-nim . I was sleeping early and suddenly found myself here was well . ”

“Fuck! Where the hell is this place?”

"It looks like a small corridor, Hyung-nim . The rooms are all clustered together . ”

“Euh! My body feels so heavy . ”

In front of them was a room labelled 406 . They couldn’t open the door to look inside and there was a strange pressure on their bodies, making them unable to move properly .

Meanwhile, Kang-jun was on the roof of Sungkwang building and could see the through a hologram of the base .

Keirun looked at their appearance and said .

"It looks like you have already secured two people, Lord . Now they should be put to work . ”

"But what type of work?’

Kang-jun felt strange as he looked at Cho Sang-jin and Hwang Seong-gil . Both of them had tried to commit acts of violence against Kang-jun .

At that moment, Rodiam approached and said .

"Leave the work to me, ong . There is a hidden mine, ong . ”

"Hidden mine?"

"Right there, ong . Follow me and I will show you, ong . ”

"Okay . Guide me . ”

Kang-jun followed after Rodiam .

The wide roof had a playground on it . The entrance to a cave was shrouded in darkness, making it hard to see .

“This is the mine?”

“That’s right . ”

It was at that moment .

[The Blue Stone Mine has been found . ]

[Mines located in your territory can be mined . ]

[Please send mine workers . ]

“Oh! It is real . ”

Rodiam rubbed his cheeks against Kang-jun’s hand again and said .

"So please appoint me as supervisor of the tasks, ong . ”

“I see!”

Keirun sent Kang-jun an excited look and said .

"Lord, that cat guy is a professional so you can leave the work to him . You don’t have to worry with him in charge . ”

"Will the workers really listen to such a cute face?”

“Have you forgotten the minotaur?”

That’s right .

Kang-jun had mistaken Rodiam as a real cat because he kept rubbing against his hands .

Rodiam wasn’t a cat . He was an advanced gnome!

Like Keirun said, having him become the supervisor would be the best .

"Okay . I will appoint you at the supervisor . ”

Rodiam jumped up .

"Hehe . Thank you, ong . There is a shortage of workers so you should create a workshop as soon as possible .

“Understood . ”

"Then I will go supervise the workers, ong . ”

Rodiam ran straight for the base .

[Rodiam has been appointed as the Job Supervisor . ]

[The speed of the workers will become faster . ]

"A workshop needs to be created as soon as possible . ”

"Right now, it is imperative that I strengthen the troops through the barrack and research institute . ”

In the meantime, the barrack had been raised to stage two and the research institute had also been completed .

[Stage 2 Barrack]

-Capacity 20/20

-Upgrading to stage 3 will cost 200 nodes .

Keirun and Rodiam weren’t included in the capacity of the barrack .

However, his other troops were waiting at the barrack . Therefore, he couldn’t summon any more troops unless the barrack was upgraded .

After Rodiam and his 10 gnomes joined, the barrack was at its maximum capacity . It was full, but he wasn’t satisfied with this much .

Kang-jun immediately started upgrading the barrack .

[Upgrade to a stage 3 barrack: 1%]

Next was the research institute .

[List of possible research]

-Combat Studies Stage 1

[Combat Studies Stage 1]

There will be a slight increase in the combat capabilities of your army .

-It will cost 500 nodes .

To his surprise, there was a study to raise the combat capabilities of all his troops .

In addition to the troops in the barrack, Keirun, Hayun, Rodian and even Kang-jun’s power would rise .

But the price of 500 nodes was expensive .

Fortunately, Kang-jun received that much as compensation for today’s mission as well as occupying the Sungkwang building . Therefore, he immediately carried out the study .

[The combat study has started . ]

[Combat Studies Stage 1: 1%]

He was able to catch his breath after that .

"Isn’t it almost time for me to go back?”

"That's correct . Lord has been here for a while so you will soon return to reality . Rather, I wanted to ask Lord something . ”

"Tell me . "

What did Keirun want to ask? He bowed to Kang-jun and said .

"Right now Lord requires someone to oversee your base . ”

"Keirun, I know . ”

"So I wanted to ask you a favour . Please appoint me as the military adviser . If you ever gain a more outstanding subordinate then I will step aside . ”