I Became the Tyrant of a Defense Game [EN]: Chapter 41

Three days after the end of Stage 2.

The fortress city of Crossroads was bustling, but the air was heavy.

Flags of mourning fluttered in the wind throughout the city.

White flags, voluntarily raised by citizens, waved from every house, not just the four gates and government buildings.

Although he had stepped down from his position as lord, Count Charles Cross had ruled this city for decades.

Not everyone respected him, but it was clear that he had dedicated his life to the city.

It was only natural that the entire city would be somber after such a symbolic figure died defending it.

The depressed morale was not easily recovering.

‘The only good thing is that there’s some time left until the next stage.’

I glanced at the system window.

[STAGE 3]

– Time until start: 12 days

Including the past three days, there were a total of 15 days until the next stage.

This was quite generous.

Fortunately, the damage to the walls was less severe than the last time when they were torn in two, so repairs would be completed in about five days.

The head of the stonemason’s guild had sworn on his life that he would finish it perfectly this time, so I could trust him.

‘If the walls are repaired without any flaws, we’ll be able to fight better next time.’

I gritted my teeth as I thought.

‘But what if another variable appears in the next stage?’

I thought of the hostile NPC, the ‘Pied Piper,’ who had appeared in the last stage.

He had only given the order to attack one point on the wall, but because of that, the entire stage had almost failed.

‘I need to block and eliminate as many variables as possible, but these unexpected variables keep popping up….’

I rubbed my forehead, feeling a headache coming on, when I suddenly remembered what Aider had said.

– You’ll understand after clearing just one more stage. Why these things happened….

“……”

I ran my hand over the leather collar around my neck.

According to Aider, its function would be unlocked after Stage 3.

– I hope you can handle it. Even after you know all the truth of this crazy world someday, I hope you can fight as firmly as you do now. Sincerely.

Aider had said that.

I frowned. The truth of this crazy world?

How much more was there that I didn’t know about this game?

And how would I find out about it all?

It was full of mysteries, but I had no choice but to move forward now.

‘Proceed to the next stage.’

After that,

‘Proceed to the stage after that.’

One by one. One by one.

I would just steadily walk the path to the ending.

My job would not change. Nothing would….

***

I ordered the party members and soldiers to rest.

I repaired the damaged walls. I repaired the fences and moats.

I sold magic stones. I bought people and supplies. I handled the accounting….

I had been so busy working for the past three days since the last stage ended that there was still one thing I hadn’t taken care of.

Three gray boxes and one purple box, carefully stored in my inventory.

– N-Grade Reward Box: 3

– SR-Grade Reward Box: 1

These were the random boxes I had received as a reward for clearing the last stage.

‘Why is there an SR-grade box in the early stages?’

Lord’s mansion bedroom. Night.

Sitting on the bed, I suspiciously examined the purple box in my hand.

Why did this appear already? Was it a reward for the difficulty spike?

‘This game wouldn’t be that kind.’

The grade of the reward box guaranteed the minimum grade of the contents.

In other words, an SR-grade box would always contain an item of SR-grade or higher. This wasn’t something that should appear in Stage 2.

‘But since they gave it to me, I’ll take it.’

There was no reason to refuse. I would use it well.

First, I opened the N-grade boxes. All three at once!

“Did a complete item drop?!”

As if to mock my shout, all three boxes emitted a gray light.

All of them were N-grade items….

“I didn’t expect anything, damn it.”

I grumbled and checked the contents of the boxes.

[Rewards]

– Status Ailment Removal Potion

– Status Ailment Removal Potion

– Standard Low-Grade Magic Core (N)

Two status ailment removal potions and one N-grade magic core.

They were necessary, but the results were disappointing. I pouted and threw the results into my inventory.

‘The main event!’

I held the SR-grade box in my hand and swallowed hard. Please!

“Just one more SR complete item!”

Last time, I got a lucky strike-like gag item, so this time, please give me a real game-breaking cheat item!

I opened the box wide.

“Did a complete item drop?!”

And the light that poured out of the box was… purple.

“Tch.”

Well, an SSR-grade was out of the question. But an SR-grade was still good.

I picked up the reward from the box. I could feel a heavy texture and weight. Could it be a complete item?!

[Rewards]

– Hunter’s Retribution (SR)

“It’s a real complete item?!”

What came out of the box was a long rifle. I quickly checked the options.

[Hunter’s Retribution (SR) Lv.25]

– Category: Magic Rifle

– Attack Power: 50-75

– Durability: 5/5

– Magazine Capacity: 10/10

– Increases armor penetration by 10% when attacking an enemy’s rear.

– Increases critical hit chance by 10% when attacking an enemy’s rear.

“Huh? A magic rifle here…?”

I was dumbfounded as I examined the rifle-shaped weapon in my hand.

Magic Rifle.

It was a weapon similar to a gun from Earth, but its operating principle was different. It was a weapon that generated and fired magic bullets from a magic core embedded in the barrel.

To put it simply, it was like a magic cannon that had been miniaturized for one person to use.

Its range was shorter than a bow, but its rate of fire and damage were far superior.

It sounded good, but it was actually a very flawed weapon.

First of all, since it was just a miniaturized version of a cannon for personal use, it was incredibly difficult to use.

Aiming was difficult, and the recoil was tremendous. It was a weapon that made it hard to hit anything accurately.

Also, for the same reason, since it was just a miniaturized cannon, it was unstable.

It often malfunctioned, and if the magic core overheated, the entire weapon would break.

Most importantly, the magazine capacity was a fatal problem.

The amount of magic bullets that a magic core could generate was limited.

If you used up all the bullets, there was nothing you could do during the several-hour generation cooldown.

As a result, most players didn’t use it, and it was a forgotten weapon type.

There were plenty of reliable bows and crossbows, so there was no reason to use a flawed magic rifle.

‘It feels like they keep giving me pretty trash items? What’s wrong with them?’

I groaned.

‘Where can I use this… no, wait a minute.’

Just as I was about to disassemble it and recover the materials, an idea flashed through my mind like lightning.

‘What if Damian used this?’

Magic rifles had the highest damage among personal firearms.

For Damian, who didn’t have any attack skills, a magic rifle could be a very attractive alternative.

‘The three biggest drawbacks of magic rifles are that they are difficult to aim, unstable, and have a low magazine capacity.’

Aiming was not a concern. Damian had [Clairvoyance].

If I could solve the other two problems, I could dramatically increase Damian’s combat power….

“……Okay!”

After closing my eyes and thinking for a moment, I jumped up from my seat.

I left the bedroom and headed towards the entrance of the mansion, shouting.

“Lukas! Prepare the carriage! We’re going out!”

***

It was late, but I got into the carriage driven by Lukas and went straight into the city center.

I barged into the blacksmith’s shop.

“Oh, Your Highness?”

The head of the blacksmith’s guild, who was alone tidying up the shop, greeted me with a flustered face.

“What brings you here at this hour….”

“I came because I have an urgent task for you.”

Without explaining, I forced my way into the blacksmith’s shop and placed the item I had brought on the table.

“Do you know what this is?”

It was the SR-grade magic rifle I had just obtained, ‘Hunter’s Retribution.’

The head of the blacksmith’s guild carefully picked up the magic rifle and exclaimed in admiration.

“This is… a magic rifle.”

“You know it well.”

“Of course. It’s a weapon type that was developed and researched about 100 years ago, but it was abandoned. It’s difficult to handle, and its stability is poor….”

It seemed that this was the perception not only in the game but also in reality.

“Is it not practical?”

“Haha, it’s expensive and inefficient. It’s better to use a cannon… It has some value as an antique, though.”

I tapped the magic rifle on the table with my fingertip.

“Anyway, since you recognize it, you can make a new one, right?”

“Yes? Of course. It’s included in the Imperial Army’s standard equipment, and its structure is similar to a magic cannon.”

The head of the blacksmith’s guild quickly added.

“However, it’s more like an artifact than a personal weapon, so an alchemist is needed for its production.”

“I’ll talk to the alchemist’s workshop about that. They’ll cooperate to make it.”

“Understood. If you provide the magic cores that will be the core of the equipment, we can start production immediately….”

Before the guild leader could finish speaking, I poured the magic cores I had brought in my pocket onto the table.

The magic cores that rolled out with a clatter were a total of five.

One standard low-grade magic core (N).

Three Ratman Champion magic cores (R).

And one Black Spider Queen magic core (SSR).

It was all the magic cores I had collected so far.

“……”

I gestured to the head of the blacksmith’s guild, who was staring at the magic cores with his mouth open.

“Make five of them.”

Is the magazine capacity low?

Is the stability poor?

Then I’ll overwhelm them with quantity.

In the game, a character could only use one weapon, but this was reality.

No one would take away my weapons just because I was carrying multiple guns.

‘Don’t be bound by the rules of the game.’

The monsters weren’t following the rules of the game. I had to be flexible in my thinking.

‘I will clear this, you damn game.’

I bit my lip.

‘I will reach the true ending, whatever it is…!’

***

On the way back to the mansion after my late-night outing.

I was lost in thought in the carriage, picturing the schedule ahead in my mind.

Then, Lukas, who was sitting in the driver’s seat, cautiously spoke to me.

“Your Highness.”

“Hmm?”

“Of course, you have your reasons… but magic cores are extremely limited, high-grade strategic resources. Wouldn’t it have been better to save some instead of using them all like this….”

That’s right. Magic cores were expensive items.

They were essential for making high-grade equipment and artifacts. Even the automatic defense turrets that were built a few days ago were powered by R-grade magic cores.

I had used them all at once.

Moreover, I was trying to give several of these high-grade equipment to one person. It was definitely inefficient.

‘But if that user is Damian, the story changes.’

Damian’s [Clairvoyance], which could see through the enemy’s weaknesses as he shot.

If I could properly utilize this, it wouldn’t be a waste to use several magic cores.

“Thank you for the advice, Lukas. But we don’t know what will happen in the next defense battle.”

I gave Lukas a smile.

“Now is not the time to save magic cores. And, I’ll be able to get more magic cores soon.”

This was also true.

Because in the second free exploration area that I would soon be leaving for, magic cores were guaranteed to drop. Several of them.

‘It’s not like I’m impulsively using them all. It’s about quickly rotating them instead of saving them up.’

Well. To be honest, it was a bit impulsive, but anyway!

Lukas didn’t say anything more and started driving the carriage again. I was grateful to Lukas for not holding back his advice.

After a while, the mansion came into view. Suddenly, fatigue washed over me. I yawned widely.

“Huuuaaam….”

I decided to get a good night’s sleep without doing anything else today. I looked towards the mansion.

“Huh?”

I noticed something strange.

At the entrance of the lord’s mansion.

A small girl was standing there.

“What is it.”

She was a girl with platinum blonde hair that shone brightly even in the moonlight and clear green eyes.

Tap!

As soon as she spotted us, the girl stomped her feet and jumped towards the carriage.

“Lukas, what is that-”

Before I could finish my sentence, horrified,

The girl, who had jumped up, thrust what she was holding towards the carriage I was in.

It was an incredibly huge cavalry spear.

“What the hell-?!”

At the same time as I cursed,

Crack-!

The spear strike that came down instantly shattered the carriage.