I Became the Tyrant of a Defense Game [EN]: Chapter 11

“What is there to hide? That’s right! I am the director of , Aider~”

“……”

My thoughts froze.

Director? This bastard?

Then, this punk was the one who brought me here…?

All sorts of thoughts flashed through my mind in an instant. It was then.

Thump!

Aider prostrated himself on the floor, like a frog. Both arms, both legs, and even his forehead were plastered to the bathroom floor.

“……?”

I was frozen, unable to understand the situation, when he said,

“I am so sorry for suddenly kidnapping you to a place like this!”

Aider apologized with all his might.

“But still, I, no! This world needs Classic Otaku-nim!”

“……”

“Just once, could you please help us just once?!”

“……”

After a moment of silence, I spoke in a soft voice.

“Please get up, Mr. Aider.”

I grabbed Aider’s arm and pulled him upright. Aider’s eyes welled up with tears, as if he was deeply moved.

“Classic Otaku-ssi…! How can you be so merciful… You’re going to help us?!”

I smiled warmly and gave a clear answer to Aider’s request.

“No, I’m doing this.”

I grabbed this damn bastard by the collar and slammed his head into the bathroom floor. Thud!

“Kueeek?!”

“Die! Die! You damn bastard, dieee!”

I mounted Aider and started punching him repeatedly. I’m really going to kill you, you bastard!

***

A little while later.

“I’m sorryyy……”

Aider was kneeling with both hands raised.

He had been beaten to a pulp by me for a while, and his face was swollen.

“So, let’s recap.”

I squatted in front of him and sighed. After beating him for a while, my head had cooled down a bit.

“You’re the… the ‘Director’ who chatted on the broadcast when I cleared the game, right?”

“Yesss……”

“And you’re really the director of this game, no, this world.”

“That’s right.”

Why does this bastard talk like this? Come to think of it, his lines in the game were like this too.

I suppressed the urge to hit him again and continued my questions.

“Why did you bring me here?”

“……This world has a ‘True Ending’.”

Aider wiped the blood from his nose with a tissue and met my gaze.

“A single ending that no one has ever reached.”

The two eyes behind his round glasses were as empty and gray as his hair.

“I have reset this world countless times to reach that ending. But, I have never reached the ending I wanted……”

“So, you decided to ask for help from someone else?”

“To put it simply, yes!”

Aider snapped his fingers, and a system window appeared in the air.

Seeing that, I finally understood. This guy was really related to the origin of this world….

“I changed this world into a game and showed it to players from other worlds.”

The system window Aider had opened in the air was filled with server names.

Among them, there was a server name written as ‘Earth’. Was Earth just one of the servers?

“The players explored possibilities in ways I hadn’t thought of. But……”

Aider shook his head slightly.

“They too, none of them reached the True Ending.”

“……Isn’t it the same for me? True Ending. I didn’t even know it existed.”

I had played to the bottom for half a year, but this was the first time I heard about another ending.

“Classic Otaku-nim didn’t reach the True Ending, but you achieved a feat that no one else has.”

Hell difficulty. Iron Man mode. Commonly known as Hell Iron Man. [A game mode with permadeath and high difficulty]

Only I had succeeded in clearing it. Is that why?

“I thought you had the highest potential, so I brought you here with a desperate heart.”

“Brought me here my ass! It was a kidnapping! And you threw me into that place, in that guy’s body?! You were just telling me to die!”

“Th, that was a mistake, or a bug… It was an unforeseen situation……”

Aider trailed off, and when I glared at him fiercely, he prostrated himself on the floor again.

“Ah, anyway! Let me tell you first about the ‘reward’ Classic Otaku-nim will receive if you help us.”

I frowned.

“Reward?”

“If you lead this world to the True Ending, I will grant one of Classic Otaku-nim’s wishes.”

“Wish……?”

What is this, some kind of Dragon Ball wish? [A reference to the popular anime where wishes can be granted by collecting dragon balls]

“I am, so to speak, a being close to a god in this world.”

Aider claimed confidently with his face all beaten up. How trustworthy.

“It’s not difficult for me to give you a generous gift when Classic Otaku-nim returns to your original world.”

“Anything?”

“Anything!”

“Like 10 billion won in cash?”

“Is it just 10 billion won? 100 billion is possible. Shall I give you more?”

……This bastard seems to be making empty promises.

But honestly, it was tempting. Granting a wish. There were many things I wanted to achieve.

‘Hyung!’ [Korean for older brother, used by males]

……No.

There was one wish I absolutely wanted to fulfill.

I swallowed hard. If this guy could really grant that wish, then…….

Aider smiled softly and looked at me.

“Classic Otaku-nim has a wish you want to fulfill, right? Not something like money, but a more precious wish.”

“……”

“A dream you thought you couldn’t achieve and gave up on, right?”

I realized then.

The self-proclaimed god in front of me knew why he called me.

That I was regretting something. That I was living with that regret.

“I’ll grant that dream.”

“……It’s already a finished dream.”

“As long as you still hold it in your heart, that dream hasn’t failed.”

For some reason, Aider spoke with certainty, as if he knew very well.

“Make a deal with me, Classic Otaku-nim.”

“……”

“Clear this world and lead it to the True Ending. Then I will grant your wish.”

After a moment of silence, I gestured with my chin.

“But if you have that kind of ability, shouldn’t you just solve it yourself?”

“My abilities have several restrictions. I can use various abilities ‘outside’ this world, but ‘inside’ I’m just an ordinary human. That’s why I needed to find an agent like Classic Otaku-nim……”

I sighed softly.

I didn’t fully trust this guy, but I roughly understood the situation. But.

“Just one question.”

“Yes.”

“If I die here, what happens?”

That was the most important question.

“Winner takes all. If you succeed in clearing it, you will safely return to your original world, to the time when you were doing the clearing broadcast, with your wish granted.”

Aider smiled.

“If you die here, it’s over.”

“……”

“Life is a one-coin play. There are no saves or loads. You know that well since you cleared it in Iron Man mode, right?”

That’s right. This game was like that.

Even if they give you convenience in other places, death can never be reversed.

“If you want to return to Earth. I’ll send you back right now.”

“What? Really?”

“Of course. Actually, I was going to ask you this first after bringing you here. You fell at the tutorial point because of an interference……”

Aider scratched his chin awkwardly and looked at me intently.

“What will you do? Will you take on the challenge of clearing the True Ending and get the chance to fulfill your wish? Or…… will you return to a peaceful life where you don’t have to feel this kind of threat of death?”

“……”

“It’s entirely Classic Otaku-nim’s choice.”

If I thought normally, I should have returned immediately.

But two things held me back. One was the desire to fulfill my wish, and the other was.

‘Isn’t it worth a try?’

It was confidence.

I cleared this game in Hell Iron Man mode. I knew almost everything about this game.

Clear it again?

What’s there to be afraid of?

Aider kept his mouth shut and waited patiently as I pondered.

“Hoo……”

After a long period of thought, I let out a long sigh.

“……I’ll do it.”

Aider’s face brightened.

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

The odds were good enough.

Then, isn’t it worth a bet? On a single round of betting……!

“I’m going to do it properly, so you better help me properly. And don’t forget about granting my wish when I see the True Ending.”

“Of course! Please use me like a dog!”

Aider really prostrated himself on the floor like a dog and tried to lick my feet. Get away, you crazy bastard!

I shook off Aider, let out a sigh, and glared at Aider.

“Okay, then…… Lord’s Aide Aider-ssi? To clear this world safely, let’s start working.”

“Yay! Just tell me what to do!”

I pointed my index finger at Aider’s chest, who was smiling brightly with his hand raised.

“Sell all the Black Spider Magic Stones before the morning’s political affairs.”

“Huh?”

Aider’s face stiffened. But I was merciless.

“What. They’re a cash item, right? You should have the sales route.”

“W, well, that’s true, but it’s already late afternoon, and the market is closed……”

“Who cares. Then open it again. The merchants who want to buy magic stones are all in the city anyway.”

I placed my index finger on Aider’s lips as he tried to protest.

“Shut up and do as I say, you punk. Whether you sell them all night or in the early morning, have them all converted to cash at market price before the morning’s political affairs. Got it?”

“Ah, I understand……”

Aider looked like he was about to cry, but he accepted it.

“388 Black Spider Magic Stones. Even at market price, that’s a huge amount of money. Wh, what are you going to do with this money…!”

“There are many things to do, but that’s none of your business.”

I pushed Aider out of the bathroom and growled fiercely.

“Convert them to cash even if you have to stay up all night. If you don’t, I’ll!”

“I’ll?”

“I’ll throw the game and go mid!” [A gaming term for intentionally sabotaging the game by going to the middle lane and dying repeatedly]

Aider’s face turned pale at my troll declaration.

“I will definitely sell them all!”

Bang!

I slammed the bathroom door shut and sighed as I headed for the bathtub.

“I need to wash up, sigh……”

But the water in the tub had already cooled down to lukewarm. Damn it.

***

The next day.

After sleeping soundly in my room’s soft and clean bed, Lucas was waiting in front of my door.

“Lucas. I told you to rest.”

“I have rested enough. I have resumed my escort duties from the morning.”

It was only morning in name, he must have been waiting in front of my door before sunrise. This guy is really diligent.

As I was washing my face and getting dressed with Lucas’s help, I heard a knock. It was Aider.

“Hah… I’ve finished the conversion to cash……”

Aider, covered in sweat, pointed out the window.

Looking out the window, I saw several carts loaded with gold coin boxes. There were many guards standing around because of the amount of money.

“I called the merchants and stayed up all night… I even held an early morning auction… I somehow managed to convert everything to cash.”

He actually did it when I told him to. I thought he would only sell half of them at best. This guy is more capable than I thought.

Aider handed me a stack of sales documents. I didn’t take them and just gestured with my chin.

“Just tell me the conclusion. How much is it?”

“We sold all 388 for over 10,000 Adels each, for a total of 4.5 million Adels!”

4.5 million!

In this game, inflation gets really bad after about three years when high-grade magic stones start pouring out, but at least at the starting point, it was definitely not an amount of money you could get your hands on.

Lucas, surprised, widened his eyes, and I whistled. This should be enough for operating funds.

“Okay. I’m going out right now. Prepare for an outing, Lucas.”

“Where do you plan to go, Your Highness?”

Lucas asked as he quickly brought me my coat. I smiled.

“The party is empty. I’m going to hire some useful friends.”

First, the mercenary guild.

I was planning to go and pick out new members to put in my party.

“Let’s start lightly……”

I flicked the gold coin certificate Aider had given me in my hand and smirked.

“Shall we try about 100 pulls?”