Chapter 31: Two Players of the Wilderness

Lakrak didn’t think taking over Automation would be easy. It was a castle built from soil, but the tall rampart surrounding it was way taller than an average person, so it was a difficult obstacle to overcome. Even if the Lizardmen were to attack the rampart, they would have to brave through all the arrows being shot at them from afar, the wooden fences in front of the rampart, the rocks being thrown at them from the top of the rampart, and the spears that would try to stab them.

‘If we want the salt mine, it would be better to go about it in a way where we wouldn’t see so much blood.’

Lakrak didn’t think this way when taking over the northern parts of the peninsula. This was because the Black-Scaled Lizardmen hadn’t been considered a large tribe back then. The tribe had to grow in population and focus on acquiring the skills and techniques of other tribes, taking their resources as well as taking over their land. These hostile acts, however, would make the other tribes feel antipathy towards the Blue Insect God.

‘I could have forced them to believe in the Blue Insect God.’

However, Lakrak and the other Lizardmen didn’t want to do that. Other than the reason that they would be taking everything else and didn’t want to take away others’ beliefs too, Lakrak didn’t think it would be likely for the others to have true faith if they were forced. Lakrak knew that simply bowing in front of the wooden statue of Sratis wouldn’t cause someone to suddenly believe in it. Faith was something that came from the heart, and fake faith would later turn into stronger antipathy.

***

In addition, Sung-Woon also had his own reason as to why he didn’t think forcing others to convert was a good idea. Sung-Woon was searching for his second species, so he couldn’t waste his Faith points on useless ones. Therefore, he didn’t recommend Lakrak to propagate God to anyone other than the Lizardmen.

As his Divinity level rose, he had an abundant amount of Faith points, and there was a need for Sung-Woon to switch to a two species system. He preferred playing with flexibility in builds. However, he needed to choose right away, and unlike his first choice where he just had to find a tribe to use within his area, the second choice would be crucial in determining a player’s strategy and progression of builds in the future.

‘Some say that the first species is just a segway to discovering the second species. Those players would find their second species, transfer all the skills of the first species to them, and stop making use of the first.’

That kind of strategy was necessary for some games, but it definitely wasn’t one to be used in this case.

Because his first species, Lizardmen, did better than expected, Sung-Woon wanted to find a species that could support the Lizardmen and potentially expand the tribe for his second choice.

‘The northern part of the peninsula is currently occupied by the Black-Scaled Lizardmen. It’s a good thing that the wide terrain, centered on the highlands in the northern part of the peninsula, fit well with a nomadic lifestyle. Some of the residents of the Black-Scaled Lizardmen Tribe are also living in parts of the mountainous areas.’

Those Lizardmen and Lakrak’s Clan were considered one community, as they were all Lizardmen and believed in the same god.

‘There are lots of other miscellaneous species, but they’re all controllable. The most important thing is the wilderness between the northern and southern part of the peninsula. The wilderness is so large that it stretches into the inner continent and northern coast, and even if I take over the southern part of the peninsula, that would be no different than crossing both enemy lines in the inner continent and northern coast. The problem, out of these two places, lies in the northern coast rather than the inner continent area. Because Lizardmen get cold easily.’

Species that were relatively good at handling the cold were species that had hair, including Orcs, Elves, and Humans, which the Lizardmen called Minnows. But the Lizardmen weren’t necessarily the only ones weak to coldness. Species with smaller frames like Goblins and amphibians were more vulnerable to the cold as well.

‘In fact, if technology related to clothes is developed, Lizardmen wouldn't have a problem, but that’s not the case right now.’

Spending one winter wasn’t a big problem for the Lizardmen, but it wouldn't be a good idea to send them to a place where there were short summers and saw snow for most of the year.

‘Then it would have to be one of the Minnows, or a species with fur… Those with fur are pretty brutal, and physical strength-wise, they're similar to the Lizardmen.’

In the Lost World, battles and war were one of the better ways to deal with things, and Sung-Woon was confident in doing so, but it wasn’t always the best solution. Compared to other species, Lizardmen were smarter than average, but they always focused on battles and challenges. While species seemed pretty similar outside of their appearances, there were actual differences between them.

‘Orcs? They have the fastest reproduction speed and grow the quickest. Before the Holy Orc build came out, they would be used as a starting species and be discarded later, and they also are a bit barbaric. But their intelligence levels actually aren’t too low. It always depends on how one would use them. In fact, Holy Orc was one of the metas. But they have a similar physique to the Lizardmen, so not them.’

Sung-Woon picked more species to be candidates.

‘Dwarfs? Their physiques aren’t too bad, and they have an advantage in caves and mountain terrains. Not to mention their workmanship. But they’re too stubborn. An alliance could be made, but the Lizardmen are also a little stubborn, so they wouldn’t be a good match for each other. What about Gnomes? They are pretty small, but that might not be a problem considering their preference of science and technology. They’ll probably get along with the Black-Scaled Lizardmen, who have discovered quite a bit of technology until now, too. However, they are passive when it comes to working with others, and they’re individualists. So that doesn’t really fit my style of pursuing expansion. Elves are the worst, so I’ll just skip over them. Halflings get along well with other species, and they’re also very curious. They’re excellent in many ways, but points are taken off for their small size. It’s also a disadvantage that they don’t like cold places. Then out of the general species…would Humans be the best choice?’

Sung-Woon thought about the downsides of Humans.

‘They’re two-faced, and always have problems with all the other species. It’s also common for them to be an alliance one day, and then become enemies the next. Their physical abilities are lower than average, intelligence is average, and their sociability is high.’

So Sung-Woon searched for Humans. However, it was difficult to find Human tribes within the peninsula, and even when there were some, the tribe was either too small, or it was hard to find one human to focus on. After a lot of searching, Sung-Woon found Automation, but at that time they were already too big a tribe. That meant it would be hard to spread faith to the humans the way Lakrak had been doing until now—through Miracles.

‘The lord of Automation has been preaching secularism among the humans within the castle. He’s very wary of players, or I mean, gods. Humans would just be a waste of Faith points without Lakrak’s help. It is a good thing that no other players seem to be approaching them though. Wouldn’t it be okay to take my time and see what happens? I want to completely take over the southern peninsula first to eliminate any risks of being attacked later on.’

However, before Lakrak’s Black-Scaled Lizardmen went south, the Ears Cut Tribe suddenly appeared, and Sung-Woon had no other choice but to deal with Automation much faster than expected. When Sung-Woon led Lakrak up north to the edge of the wilderness through a revelation, Lakrak’s scouting party encountered the scouting party of Ears Cut Tribe several times, which led to a Clash of Civilization.

[Clash of Civilizations!]

[Two different tribes have come into contact. Experience points (XP) are rising for both tribes.]

[Warning: The opposing species have Faith.]

Sung-Woon couldn’t do anything but nod after seeing the warning message. The opposing species having Faith meant that the tribe belonged to another player. There was nothing for Sung-Woon to be surprised about because it was to be expected considering the scale of the tribe and their calculated movements.

Sung-Woon clicked on the Local Community tab and checked the window that came up.

[Player List (1)]

[Hegemonia]

There was one other player nearby with whom Sung-Woon could chat, and the player’s username was Hegemonia. It was a familiar one to Sung-Woon.

‘Wait, this username…’

As soon as Sung-Woon realized who it was, a message popped up.

[Player, Hegemonia, has requested a Whisper Conversation.]

Sung-Woon thought about what he should do. Everyone had different preferences when it came to chatting in online games, and Sung-Woon always preferred not to talk to anyone. Chatting with other players could also be a strategy when playing a game, but Sung-Woon thought it was better to use that time to control another character.

‘But this time, it seems a conversation is needed. There’s nothing else I can do.’

Sung-Woon accepted the request for a Whisper Conversation and asked for a video chat.

‘This way, it’s possible to get more information from the other person than simply chatting through messaging.’

Even though it was called a video chat, only their avatars, which players could customize using the God Appearance Helper, were shown.

There was no reply from Hegemonia as if they were taking a moment to wonder what to do, and then they accepted the video chat request.

Sung-Woon checked the opponent’s face. As expected, they wore a spiked helmet which also covered their face. The inside of the helmet was made of metal and covered with shadows, but their fierce eyes were visible, and the pair of horns sticking out from the side of their helmet bent upward and pointed to the sky. The opponent’s avatar had matching chest armor below the helmet and a red aura that burned like fire in the background.

Hegemonia started the conversation.

“Oh, you scared me.”

It was a remark that didn’t match the solemn voice that projected from within the metal helmet.

“Why are you surprised? You’re the one who requested for a Whisper Conversation first.”

“How can I not get scared after seeing your avatar?”

“Funny for you to say.”

“Anyways…”

Hegemonia continued, “Long time no see, Nebula.”

In Sung-Woon’s opinion, it wasn’t all that awkward being called by his nickname, since it was his avatar being shown.

Sung-Woon comfortably replied, “Don’t act like we’re close.”

He didn’t have the most amiable personality, and Hegemonia became somewhat embarrassed.

“...Well, I couldn’t talk to you until now because you always preferred not to talk to anyone, but we’ve encountered each other in the game quite a few times. Don’t you remember us playing the last game of The Lost World together?”

“I do remember, but we’ve been here for ten years. Don’t you think it’s normal to not remember everything?”

“No. Our last game was such a good one. I think it was worth remembering.”

Sung-Woon thought back to the last game to make sure if Hegemonia was right.

“No. It was so boring. I countered your Holy Orc meta strategy and you lost, didn’t you? It should have been a close game for it to have been a good one, but the game just ended like that.”

“...Hm.”

Hegemonia looked down and grabbed their helmet. Sung-Woon thought Hegemonia was probably a soft-hearted person in real life, unlike what the avatar would suggest.

Hegemonia raised their head and said, “Okay. Sounds good. I’ve made up my mind. We’ll see who the real winner is, Nebula. I’ll destroy you for sure.”

“Always saying stupid things.”

“What?”

“Why would we fight now? For whose advantages?”

Hegemonia hesitated for a moment.

“The Lost World is basically a free-for-all, multifaceted game. Everyone is fighting for their lives, and you want the first and second ranked players to lose at the beginning?”

A war of annihilation between two strong players was something to reconsider. In The Lost World, how the game was played in the beginning determined how the middle and second half of the game would turn out, and small losses in the beginning of the game would sometimes return as severe damage towards the end. Even if they could make up for the small losses, there would be no way to catch up if the other players had advanced far more in technology.

“Of course, if we were able to continuously play more games in the future, it would be worth fighting now for the feeling of triumph. It’d be a gamble worth a risk. That way, a strong rival would be eliminated, and the technology, territory, and a part of the opponent’s area would be taken. If the fight were to end without much damage done, the winner would also have an advantage over the rest of the players. However, we won’t have any more games to play after this, Hegemonia. This is our last one.”

Hegemonia scratched the back of their head, which didn’t suit the avatar at all.

“I know. I just got a little carried away.”

That didn’t seem true to Sung-Woon, but he decided to move on. Sung-Woon also remembered Hegemonia’s play style. It seemed simple, but they had an animal-like instinct in conflicts, and they were good at multitasking. And when Sung-Woon looked up Hegemonia on the statistical site in real life, it stated that Hegemonia benefited from fighting others in the beginning of their games. Sung-Woon also thought he could do that, but…

‘There’s no reason to follow a strategy advantageous to an opponent.’

In the end, chatting was also a part of the game.