I Became the Tyrant of a Defense Game [EN]: Chapter 347

“He’s the king who commanded the ‘Great Goblin Invasion’ that swallowed the entire western continent, one-third of the world. The damage at that time was so great that the western continent still hasn’t recovered from it.”

The Bringer Duchy is located in the area spanning from the center to the west of the continent. Further west from there, there are a few small city-states in the desert.

So, the reason why the western part of the continent is so desolate is because of those goblins.

‘They weren’t that strong in the game….’

Honestly, I was taken aback. I didn’t expect Jackal to be so serious about the goblins, whom I thought of as just a bonus stage.

“Normally, goblins are not intelligent and weak. They are just weak creatures that move in groups, but under this God-King, they were different.”

“How so?”

“He gathered the goblins scattered throughout the continent under his command, organized an army, and commanded them systematically. He made equipment, provided it, and trained them. And then, he started a war of conquest.”

Jackal explained, swallowing hard.

“Many other dynasties were destroyed by his skillful mercenary tactics. It is said that even though all the kingdoms in the western continent were at the forefront of magical civilization, they were swept away helplessly. It is said that more than ten kingdoms fell at this time.”

“……”

“Fortunately, assassins dispatched by the allied forces barely succeeded in assassinating the God-King, and the Goblin God-King’s army, which had no successor, collapsed… and the situation ended. But the west was already devastated.”

That God-King has been resurrected here in Lake Kingdom.

And he’s preparing to invade the human world again in this boss stage….

‘…Jackal is right. I shouldn’t be careless.’

I straightened my relaxed mind.

It doesn’t matter how great an enemy he actually is. How could I let my guard down just because he was a bit easy in the game? Get a grip, me!

Just this morning, I wished at the temple that no one would die.

To do that, I must always be on my guard. Always…!

“By the way, you know a lot about this. It’s all old news, isn’t it?”

“I’m from the west… In the west, people still tremble at the mention of the Goblin God-King. They say that if you tell a crying child his name, they’ll stop crying.”

Jackal, who explained with a look of disgust, sighed and looked up at his colosseum.

“Anyway, that’s why all my goblin subordinates have gone under the God-King, and the restoration here is going to take a long time… I don’t know when I’ll finish the construction alone.”

“……”

Hearing that, I curled up the corners of my mouth into a smirk.

There’s still some time left until the next defense battle anyway. I might as well help out here for a bit.

“Hey, Jackal. I’ll help you restore the colosseum, so in return… can you help me in this defense battle?”

Then, Jackal knelt on one knee in front of me with a serious face.

“Your Highness, I am already your servant. If you need me, I will do anything without conditions! Just give me your orders!”

“Of course, you will. But, the role I need from you is the role of the owner of this colosseum….”

I stood up and looked at the flag with Jackal’s face on it, fluttering pitifully in the middle of the colosseum.

“Instead, let’s change the flag to mine.”

It seems like I’ve decided where to use the next [Imperial Territory Declaration].

***

Since I came to the dungeon, I went to the [Dried-up Drainage] in the 1st area, which I had already conquered.

This is because new resources are generated in the conquered dungeons. These resources can be collected at the end of each stage.

So, what are those resources?

[1st Area Dried-up Drainage Conquest Reward]

– N-Grade Reward Box: 1

Yep.

It’s a random box….

Since it’s no longer possible to farm after the conquest, dungeon exploration clear rewards are given for free every stage.

In certain areas, unique material items or consumables are generated, but in places like this 1st area, which has no special features, it just spits out random boxes.

After collecting the N-grade gray box that was generated in the middle of the dungeon room, which was originally the boss room, I clicked my tongue. A reward worthy of the 1st area.

Well, in the long run, it’s good that you can conquer multiple areas and farm additional boxes every stage… but in the end, I have to play the random game again.

‘Come to think of it, I’ve accumulated a lot of boxes again.’

I had been collecting the reward boxes that came out from stage 11 without opening them. Now that I’ve remembered, I should get rid of them all.

I tossed the box in my hand and got on the teleport gate back to the mansion. For New Year’s Day, I think I’m working pretty hard.

Whoosh!

As soon as I returned to the mansion, I went back to my room and poured out the reward boxes I had collected onto the bed.

‘A few N-grades, a little less than 20 R-grades… and 3 SR-grades….’

It’s one way to open them all.

But from now on, I’m going to use a slightly different method. I opened the system window and opened the achievement shop.

This time, Aider updated the achievement shop a bit along with [Goddess Blessing], and I was planning to buy and use one of the functions.

That function is-

[Reward Box Synthesizer]

That’s it!

It’s a function that combines a certain number of lower-grade reward boxes to upgrade them to the next grade reward box.

The formula is as follows:

> Combine 10 N-grade boxes → 1 R-grade box

> Combine 10 R-grade boxes → 1 SR-grade box

> Combine 5 SR-grade boxes → 1 SSR-grade box

In fact, if you only consider efficiency, it’s an absurd waste… but in a situation like now, where the game is somewhat on track, it’s better to synthesize and aim for high-grade equipment items than to open N-grade and R-grade boxes and get useless consumables or equipment items.

‘It was a feature that was supported in the game too.’

Even if the number of boxes is a bit insufficient, you can fill the points by adding magic materials and synthesize them.

It was a gacha [a type of random reward system] within a gacha, a luck-based game, and I was miserable, but the viewers liked it….

Ding!

After spending achievement points to purchase the function, I began to synthesize the boxes in earnest.

N-grade boxes and R-grade boxes, and a little bit of magic materials to make up for the insufficient numbers… I finally synthesized them into two SR-grade boxes.

Whoosh!

With a purple effect, the gray and blue boxes disappeared, and two purple boxes rolled out. Hmm, not bad.

‘Including the three I already had, that’s five SR-grade boxes… I can aim for a jackpot with this.’

Five purple boxes!

I should be able to get a decent item. I reached out to open the box….

“……”

…I stopped reaching out and glanced at the synthesis formula of the [Reward Box Synthesizer].

> Combine 5 SR-grade boxes → 1 SSR-grade box

“……”

No.

No, no, no. That’s not it.

That’s a real waste of efficiency. You’d be a fool to fall for that.

Get a grip, old-school otaku! How many times have you converted that in the game, and all you got were trash items! That’s why it’s nicknamed ‘Reward Fireworks’! Your rewards are exploding!

‘I shouldn’t fall for it! I shouldn’t fall for it! I shouldn’t-’

Ding!

“Duh-huh?!”

But my hand moved on its own, and I was stuffing the five purple boxes into the synthesizer. Noooo! Stop-!

Roll.

“……Ah.”

I messed up.

I looked down at the golden box in my hand and opened my mouth slightly.

‘It’s okay, something good will come out. There’s almost no chance of getting a dud among the SSRs, right?’

I’m aiming for a more certain hit! It’s definitely not a gacha addiction!

After swallowing hard, I forcefully opened the box.

“Did I get a cheat item-?!”

And what came out with a dazzling golden effect was,

[Fragment of the Great Commander’s Flag] (3/5)

– One of the five pieces of the exclusive equipment [Great Commander’s Flag (EX)] for the character ‘Ash’.

– When all five pieces are collected, it will be completed into one flag.

It was a flag fragment….

“……”

Flap flap.

The fragmented flag piece fluttered inside the box, asserting its presence. It’s inanimate, but I want to kill it.

“Still… somehow… it’s coming together….”

I muttered, grinding my teeth.

All the blood, sweat, and tears I’ve collected from stages 11 to 14… the culmination of our friendship, effort, and labor… is a flag fragment that I can’t even use right now…!

‘The completed item’s effect will be world-shattering, right? If it’s not… I’ll kill Aider.’

I sent a silent death threat to the sinful director and threw the flag fragment into my inventory.

Anyway, it’s the third piece. If I collect two more, I’ll have my own exclusive equipment.

Let’s think positively, positively….

‘…I should go to the blacksmith tomorrow and do some indiscriminate shopping.’

I’ll buy some equipment tomorrow to make up for the emotional wounds I suffered today….

***

Was it thanks to the hot New Year’s stew? Or was it because I received a lot of blessings from the Goddess at the temple? Or was it because I stopped lying down and got some fresh air outside?

When I got up the next day, my condition was refreshed. My body was completely fine.

‘I can accelerate the preparations for the next defense battle.’

There was no reason to delay. I immediately started moving actively.

First, I stopped by the alchemy workshop. It was to urge the completion of the defense tower – [Magic Turret], which I had requested for research earlier, and it was just in the final stages.

“The research will be completed by today.”

“Good. I’m planning to do a practical test in the afternoon, so please take care of it until then.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

After leaving the workshop, escorted by the head of the alchemy guild.

Next, I went to the mercenary guild.

Due to the recent spy incident, an additional step had been added to the identification process, and even after being filtered out, quite a few mercenaries were waiting in the guild.

There aren’t any particularly outstanding parties, but the overall level has increased. Now, there are more R-grade heroes than N-grade heroes.

After quickly scanning the list, I slammed the file shut and gave a concise order.

“Hire them all.”

“Understood, my lord. However….”

Lukas, who had followed me, trailed off, so I looked at him questioningly.

“However?”

“The barracks are gradually reaching capacity. It’s still okay, but if you hire more at this rate, there won’t be enough accommodation for the mercenaries.”

The number of troops that can be accommodated in the facilities of Crossroads is a little over three thousand, and this time it has exceeded two thousand.

You might think that there is still room for another thousand, but just in the last stage 10, the number of troops was a little over a thousand.

But now, before stage 15, it’s two thousand. The number of troops has doubled in just a few months.

At this rate, it will reach the accommodation limit of three thousand soon. That’s what Lukas pointed out.

“Contact the carpentry and masonry guilds. Tell them to request additional barracks construction. Let’s have a meeting tomorrow.”

“Are you going to expand the troops further?”

“The monsters will increase further. It’s better for us to have as many numbers as possible.”

Anyway, as the number of monsters increases, the income from magic stones will skyrocket, so it will all be covered.

Thanks to the Winter Silver Merchant Guild, which distributes magic stones throughout the continent, we have quite a bit of money right now.

But the place of the dead cannot be easily filled.

To prevent monsters with as little damage as possible, it would be better to maintain an overwhelmingly large force for a successful capture.

‘More than anything, I need more heroes. High-grade heroes….’

This time, the number of ordinary soldiers was sufficiently expanded, but the number of hero characters was insufficient. In particular, there were no high-grade heroes of SR grade or higher.

‘Hotel! Hotel! I need to build a hotel with a casino soon!’

The site is being prepared now, and the construction of the hotel will begin in earnest after the cold weather subsides.

Then, high-grade mercenaries, lured by the casino, will appear one by one. My plan for a tourist city, show me your effect soon…!

Anyway, I have to be satisfied with this for now. I got up. Now, I’m going to go to the blacksmith and do some serious equipment shopping.

I was about to leave the mercenary guild with Lukas.

Bang!

The door of the mercenary guild swung open, and five giants limped inside.

They had large bodies and thick armor, and their whole bodies, visible through the gaps in the armor, were wrapped in bandages like mummies.

The faces were also wrapped in bandages, or covered with robes, hoods, or helmets.

They smelled of herbs and festering disease. The mercenaries in the guild, recognizing their identities, recoiled in horror.

“Eek?!”

“That’s the ‘Leprosy Extermination Corps’…!”

“Why are these monsters here?!”

The other mercenaries were horrified as if they had seen something they shouldn’t have, and moved away from them, and Lukas was also full of vigilance.

But I was the opposite.

My eyes sparkled without me realizing it, and a happy thrill ran down my spine.

‘Holy moly, Happy New Year!’

It seems like my luck is very good from the beginning of this year.

That’s because,

Sparkle sparkle.

Behind these gloomy and dangerous-looking five giants, beautiful purple lights were flashing.

These guys are all SR-grade mercenaries!

I was so happy that I couldn’t help but smile brightly and shout with my arms wide open.

“Welcome to Crossroads!”

“……?”

The five giants, perhaps bewildered by my attitude, froze and stood awkwardly as they had entered through the door.