Chapter 34: Way of the Sovereign (1)
The next day at noon.
There was a large and luxurious bed.
A man and two women were sleeping. All of them were naked. The room was littered with bottles and underwear. It was easy to guess what happened here last night.
“Um!”
The man opened his eyes. He was a handsome man in his 30s.
“Euh! My head hurts. I drank too much last night.”
He got up and staggered around to get water.
Snap! Snap!
The cold water refreshed his spirit. At the same time, the messy room caught his eyes. The two women were still asleep.
The man woke the two women up.
"He woke up already?"
"Yawn! I want to sleep. This bed is too soft.”
The man stuck a cigarette in his mouth and exclaimed.
"Get up and leave.”
“What?”
"Oppa! What did you say just now?”
"Shut up and get lost! Haven’t you heard things about me? I am just a bad man.”
The women were furious. The man from last night seemed completely different to the person in front of them now. Of course, the girls didn’t follow him because of kindness. They came because he paid one million per person.
“Fuck!”
"I have the worst luck!”
The women grumbled as they clothed themselves and left.
The man didn’t show any interest as he smoked a cigarette on the sofa in his living room.
After a while. The man got up and looked out the window.
Noon. The streets were crowded with people. It was lunchtime so workers were looking for restaurants.
But the man’s eyes were on the surrounding buildings, not the people. The reason was his recent mission.
Mission 5- Scout the neighbourhood to find a nearby, hostile sovereign.
-Compensation: Experience, 1000 nodes
That’s right. He was Jung Kwang-hyeon, a sovereign in the world of Hwanmong.
'I thought the whole dream and reality thing was ridiculous at first. I became a sovereign in a place called Hwanmong.’
There was a meaningful smile on Jung Kwang-hyeon’s face. He was a power runner and had rugged muscles.
'Huhu, these muscles! I didn’t even exercise to gain these muscles!’
A perfect, muscular body that ordinary people would find hard to reach! Even his energy increased.
This was all due to the power of Hwanmong.
After passing the first mission of gathering 100 black magic energy, he had gone through the flesh construction process.
The second mission required constructing a barrack. The compensation for this was 500 nodes and inferior knowledge about goblins and orcs.
Thanks to the barrack, he could summon the goblins and orcs. They were disgusting monsters that normally only appeared in fantasy books. He honestly found them so disgusting that he didn’t even want to look at them. However, strong troops would make the sovereign more powerful.
So he had two barracks and he upgraded them to stage three. The stage three barracks could accommodate 30 monsters each. It was also the third mission.
The problem was the cost to summon the monsters. Fortunately, this could be covered by his taxes.
Every time he entered Hwanmong, he would be paid 1,000 nodes as taxes for his territories. Thanks to that, Jung Kwang-hyeon managed to summon 30 goblins and orcs in each barrack. That was mission 4.
He got the title of Sovereign Herod as a reward. A sovereign with a total of 60 creatures!
He also received the Wyvern Ring that made the wearer immune to fear and confusion.
[Wyvern Ring]
-Rating: Only one
-A sign that you are a sovereign in Hwanmong.
-Strength +5 when worn.
-Immune to fear and confusion when worn.
-Sovereign Title: Herod
His power rose tremendously thanks to the power of the ring.
Furthermore, his level rose! He had never done a combat mission, yet he was still Lv6.
He had no intention of fighting directly with monsters in the future. He had no reason to risk death in fights when he could just raise his level through the missions. He would leave the fighting to his subordinates! A sovereign was meant to give commands.
He thought about it.
'This time, I will add one more barrack after entering Hwanmong. I’m not sure how strong the sovereign in the area is, but it will be game over with my forces. Huhuhu!’
It would be enough with the tax money. Complete victory! Once he found the location of the hostile sovereign, his troops would sweep through in minutes!
So he had to make a plan.
Susuk.
A man wearing a black hood appeared in front of him. The man lay down and cried out.
"I seek an audience with Lord!”
Jung Kwang-hyeon glanced at him and asked.
“Colt, do you know where the hostile sovereign is?”
Colt could exist in both reality and Hwanmong. He was an intermediate ghost that immediately swore his loyalty after Jung Kwang-hyeon became a sovereign.
"I didn't find them yet. The wandering ghosts in the area don’t know.”
"Look for any even slightly suspicious buildings. We have to find that person first.”
“Yes, Lord.”
Colt disappeared somewhere.
That evening.
Kang-jun came back from selling socks to find Hayun waiting in Room 406.
"Today a subordinate of Herod was asking the ghosts about you.”
“Herod has started to act. Sooner or later, he will start attacking.”
"He hasn’t found this place yet. Like I said, I have a hold on all the ghosts. They won’t say anything.”
Kang-jun was delighted.
“Okay. Well done Hayun.”
"I did great, right?”
"Of course. Well done.”
Kang-jun stroked Hayun’s head. Hayun’s eyes started sparkling.
"Then buy me something delicious.”
"Tell me what you want.”
", , sweet and sour pork!”
“I understand.”
Kang-jun happily called a Chinese delivery restaurant.
Today he would eat a delicious meal with a ghost. Hayun had done something big for him, so it was worth spending money.
In this world, the ghosts were a source of information. All of them were controlled by Hayun, so the information belonged to Kang-jun.
Herod didn’t know anything, but Kang-jun knew about him. This alone would create an opportunity to reverse the situation.
The next evening.
Kang-jun signed an additional contract for Room 401. Kim Yong-jae who originally lived in Room 401 was moved to another room, so the problem was easily solved.
It was necessary to spend money on Room 401 in order to build a research institute in Hwanmong. His subordinates would become much stronger if he built a research institute.
11 p.m.
It was finally time to enter the world of Hwanmong.
Kang-jun lay down on the bed and said to Hayun.
"I might call you later.”
"I’ll be waiting.”
"Then please sing a lullaby.”
"Good night our baby...”
Kang-jun’s eyes closed as he heard the lullaby. It was like Hayun was singing a sleeping spell as he quickly fell asleep.
[The door to Hwanmong is open.]
[You have entered the world of Hwanmong.]
His base located in Room 406.
Unlike earlier, there was another person standing next to Kang-jun.
A youth with neat blue hair down to his waist. Pale skin that couldn’t be seen on a human. Sharply glittering grey eyes. Eyeshadow seemed to be used to paint dark circles around his eyes. A gloomy but fascinating appearance!
What was the identity of this youth? It was hard to know who he was. At that moment, he saw Kang-jun and bowed down.
"Keriun, seeking an audience with Lord!”
“Keirun? You are Keirun?”
Keirun was a rotting, elderly corpse with black hair. But this change! He looked good for a corpse.
“Kuhuk! I’ve regained my real face now that I am part of your household instead of a shadow sovereign.”
"I’m glad to hear that. Then your abilities have become stronger?”
Keirun scratched his head and said.
"My capabilities are currently at level 1. However, my level will slowly rise in the future.”
"Slowly?"
“Yes. The amount of experience I get compared to Lord Sovereign is small, so my levelling speed will be slow. This is a rule in Hwanmong.”
According to Keirun, the only ones with the right to level up quickly in Hwanmong were the sovereigns.
"Then those guys can also raise their level?”
Kang-jun pointed to the ratians that were waiting in front of the base.
"Yes, of course. They will become stronger in battles. Increasing their level and skills will be very useful to Lord.”
Kang-jun was surprised. Even the monsters summoned to the barrack could level up?
Keirun’s eyes flashed as he continued speaking.
“But the most important thing is the level of the sovereign. One of the fastest ways to grow stronger is for the level of the sovereign itself to rise! This is the best way to survive in Hwanmong.”
Kang-jun laughed. Keirun didn’t need to tell him this.
"That’s natural. Why else would there be sovereigns?”
"That's right, Lord. Most sovereigns, especially those with a lot of resources in the beginning, won’t risk their lives fighting monsters to level up. It is dangerous so they would rather rely on strong subordinates. For example, they only raise their level through missions.”
“Missions? I’ve only received fighting missions. There are missions that don’t involve fighting?”
Keirun grinned.
“The missions given to each sovereign are different. In particular, it depends on what the sovereign wants! This is why Lord has only been given fighting missions.”
“Then I would be given simple missions if I wanted it?”
"Of course. But that is a ridiculous choice. Those type of sovereigns will never last long. Let alone reaching the 100th mission, they normally have their necks cut by other sovereigns.”
"Hrmm."
"Sovereigns should only roll in the blood and sweat of monsters! They will feel the crisis of death but will become frighteningly strong with each survival. In the end, the sovereigns that start off with a lot of resources will be trampled on by others.”
"Is that right?”
Kang-jun’s eyes were burning