Chapter 33: Central Island 6

'Let's see.'

Taejin, one of the Lords, mumbled inwardly.

He didn't know if the Demon Lord's Castle was dangerous or not.

But he just needed to decide between the two.

Between whether his clansmen could be included within the 500 who would go up or not.

If that was possible then there was no reason for him to go to the Demon Lord's Castle.

'I need to do some traffic control.' (*TL: Where have we heard this before? o.o...)

<Let's talk>

There was a location where they had gathered one of their clansmen each for quick communication during times of emergency.

And they could talk through these people and voice their opinions.

It was created for an emergency and if this situation wasn't an emergency, what was this then?

And their decisions had come to a consensus through the people who voiced the Lord's opinions for them.

<First, we do not fight between ourselves. When we ascend we will go up after making an alliance between the clans>

If they fight with other clans so they could take all of their members up with them then they would all die.

If that happened then even 300 of 500 was too much.

The best option was for the twelve clans to fill up the 500 spots one by one to ascend.

If that happened then they could at least take 40~50 people up with them.

They didn't like the fact that all twelve clans ascended alive with similar ratios but it was still a profit.

They had gotten strong quickly by going through the underground dungeon and were armed with artifacts.

They didn't know the situation in the other islands but if they took 40~50 elite members like them then they could still utilize them to an advantage above.

'This is solved for now.'

Once a consensus is met then an answer was set.

<Defense>

If they defended here then there was no such occurrences where the Clan Lords and their elite members couldn't ascend.

Since the problem between clans had been solved, the problem was now non-clansmen.

'Hmm...there's quite a lot of non-clansmen.'

It was better the more people you had for defense but the story changes once the people who could live was set to 500.

The current total population was 1300.

About 600 clansmen and 700 non-clansmen.

The non-clansmen felt uneasy joining clans after seeing the strange scene where people, who were on bad terms even to the point where they tried to kill each other, unnaturally and forcefully get reconciled through the symbols of the clansmen.

They would guarantee their safety but it was obvious that people will avoid it if they see their free will being controlled in such a way.

And even more so if there was an existence above them called the Lord whom they had to listen to even if they were to command them to suicide.

They might've gone in if the situation was dangerous but the fact that the defense progressed flawlessly also contributed in keeping the ratio of clansmen and non-clansmen.

But there were too many non-clansmen currently to leave them to just die.

If only 600 clansmen are left then the casualties would increase at a shocking rate.

So they had to stop them from going.

But they didn't need to stop them.

"Our clan chooses to defend!"

"Us too!"

Every clan started to shout their choice in defense from all over.

And then all the non-clansmen mumbled.

'There's no way they could leave'

Taejin laughed inwardly.

The weak always had their choices limited.

And now those people had to wait for their choices.

............

'Bitches...'

Sangtae, one of the people who were in a non-clansmen union, grinded his teeth.

'Dammit... I should've went into a clan when thing were normal.'

But he couldn't go in from uneasiness after seeing the clansmen who had received the symbol.

He hadn't joined a clan because he thought he could ascend without many problems if they defended like this but for such an unexpected event to happen.

'Well. Even if I did go in, I might've been cut.'

500 was that low of a number.

But in such a case, something bad would happen.

There was no way they would leave a spot for the non-clansmen to ascend.

Since they'll be too busy trying to take all of their people.

It seemed like the other non-clansmen who were quick to catch on had realized this already as they mumbled about.

They had three paths they could choose from in that case.

Exclude the clansmen and head towards the Demon Lord's Castle with non-clansmen.

Form an alliance between the non-clansmen and fight the clan for the spot of 500.

And final choice.

Stay with the clans to fight and hopefully wait for the empty spot that may come their way.

'Goddamit.'

Sangtae shook his head.

In reality the two options above were basically impossible.

The non-clansmen adventurers had long been ripped apart by the clans.

The two options above were only possible when they form an alliance and agree with each other to create a clan vs non-clan composition.

But if they only had the choice of choosing from the two above then they would've gathered their strength in some way.

Since they couldn't just sit and die.

The damnable fact was that hope still existed.

'The third option is the problem.'

If they continue to defend then the number of clansmen will go down.

But those guys probably want to fill up 500 completely to ascend.

Since it was better the more you had if you thought of the place above.

Which meant, there will be space where non-clansmen would be able to come into.

A much higher chance than the first two which had the chance of a complete massacre.

'Damn.. can't really do anything then.'

If this happened then as long as they don't think of getting all the non-clansmen to have a fight, they could only get on the good side of the clan unions.

It might be barely possible if the 700 remaining people gathered their strengths but if they were split like this then they had no choice.

'Fuck...As long as we group up then we might be able to do something.'

Actually the main point of this game was very simple.

If they split their power then both sides die.

So everyone had to choose one side.

Either to defend or to attack.

But if one side advocates strongly then the other side could only obediently follow unless they were determined to have a battle royale.

So there was no way for the non-clan powers to win.

Since the clan unions were unified in thought whilst the adventurers of non-clan powers were split up all around.

And even if they were to emphasize that it was more beneficial for the clan unions, they could only get pushed around whilst holding onto a dim thread of hope.

Sangtae shouted loudly after pondering.

'This can't go on like this.'

"Hey! Is there nobody to go with me! Damnit! You know what will happen if you stay here!"

A few non-clansmen fliched at these words but nobody had walked out on their own.

'Damnit...'

But while the Clan Lords were looking at Sangtae with ridicule, one person came out from the crowd and walked up next to Sangtae.

And Sangtae frowned as he saw this.

Since a person that was totally out of the expectation had walked out.

"Why are you all so surprised?"

Hansoo, who had walked out into the eyes of the people, shrugged his shoulders as he looked at them.

"....if you stay here then you will definitely be part of the 500 though."

Hansoo chuckled at Sangtae's words as he spoke.

"Well. There's always personal circumstances. I'm going to the Demon Lord's Castle."

And then one of the non-clansmen shouted with hope.

Everyone knew.

That Hansoo had a strange psychic power.

'Did he perhaps... choose to go to the Demon Lord's Castle because he knows something?'

"If we follow you, will it be safe?"

The reason why their ankles were caught was because they could not even imagine how dangerous the road to the Demon Lord's castle would be.

Since if there was a confirmation for such a thing, there was no reason to stay around here.

Hansoo shrugged his shoulders at those words.

"I don't know. The same amount of 500 might survive if we go there, or maybe even less"

Will more survive if they all combined their strength to head towards the Demon Lord's Castle?

He didn't even know this.

Since there are too many factors.

But he knew one thing for certain.

If they stay here then no more than 500 can survive.

If 600 were to survive in the end, will the remaining 100 peacefully die?

Of course there will inevitably be a collision and the others who aren't part of the 500 will die.

On the other hand, Eres had managed to ascend with 600 people out of 1000 after choosing to go to the Demon Lord's Castle.

Hansoo chuckled as he saw the dejected looks on the people as he spoke.

"But if you aren't part of a clan it's better to go. If you stay here then the ones taking the risk are you so why would you try to stay here."

Even if they were die off the same way, it was a problem of ratio in the end.

Even if the same amount of people die on the way as they would if they defended, once they arrive there then they can ascend together.

But on the other hand, if they were stay and defend and succeed the non-clansmen who aren't chosen by the clansmen would all die.

At those words, the expressions of everybody who had been pondering this turned fierce as the mumbling got louder.

"I'm going."

Taehee questioned Hyunwoo's words which he spoke out after hearing the story.

The Hyunwoo she knew was a safety-first believer.

But then he was risking on such a dangerous looking gamble.

"Really?"

Hyunwoo smirked as he spoke.

"There's something I had found out about him separately."

There once was a movement that went around in order to collect intel about Hansoo.

And as such movements occurred, Hyunwoo became curious as well.

No, this was not only Hyunwoo's question.

Everyone was curious about that guy fighting there.

Since it was weirder to be not curious about that guy who was so eye catching.

And so the rumors of rumors and opinions of opinions combined.

It started from the people who had been with Hansoo since the 1st tutorial area and went up to the people who had seen Hansoo so far where the intel grouped up and got organized.

And the conclusion that came from it.

'He can be trusted.'

Surprisingly they said he was strong from the start.

There were plenty of ways to take advantage of others in the beginning.

He could kill people to pull runes.

Or he could hunt and steal all the runes by suppressing others with his strength.

But he wasn't like that.

No, he was actually extremely thorough in distribution.

He had eaten things to the point where it was close to monopolization but as they heard, he only fought in dangerous places.

Which was the same if you looked at him fighting the demons right now.

'And I like the fact that he doesn't get swept around by useless emotions the most.'

One of the things he hated the most were people who wanted to get carried around.

But as they heard, if they couldn't pay up for their own worth then he did not care about them.

Of course they couldn't confirm just by piecing together rumors.

There was just one important fact.

That others were probably thinking the same way as him.

'The chance has come.'

It has been a while since the rumor of him being rather trustable had been going around.

Since he proved it with his actions rather than words.

He didn't neglect in hunting down the undead while taking down Demons.

And because of that he was worth having as the center.

And they had to group up in order to break the game where the clans were the center.

If they go on with the current situation, the clans won't have to take any risks while they had to shoulder all of the risk.

The non-clansmen adventurers would die off in piles even if they chose to defend.

And the ones who couldn't get into clans would be thrown off in the end.

Hyunwoo shouted loudly as he walked towards Hansoo.

"I'm following!!!"

And then Hyunwoo discreetly poked Taehee.

"Hey. You follow too while shouting loudly."

Taehee chuckled as she shouted.

"I'm going too! Dick-like clan bastards!"

'...you don't have to go that far. Why is this girl's mouth so dirty?'

Well whatever happened, as the two walked out straightforwardly as they shouted, mumbles were heard from all around then curses were heard as well.

"Eyy. Bitches. Being bossed around is annoying!"

"I'm going too! Fuck! There's no way that the fairy would have set it so only one of attack or defense would be easy!"

They weren't heading out because they were just pissed.

Since it was an important judgment where their lives were at stake.

But if they carried on like this then the situation will flow the way the clans wanted after they swing back and forth under the clan's dominion.

They were confident that this was more dangerous than going to the Demon Lord's Castle.

"This crazy...you can't move! It's not child's play, why would you move at such incitements..."

While a clansmen got flustered and tried to stop them after seeing everyone moving and mumbling, something ruthlessly flew down and embedded itself from the sky.

Boooom!

"Huuuuurrk!"

"Why are you blocking them when they're saying they'll go on their own feet. Leave them be."

Hansoo smirked as he spoke.

The Clan Lords turned gloomy as they saw the giant chain sickle which had flown from Hansoo and landed in front of the clansmen's foot.

It was a weapon Hansoo brought back one day whilst fighting the Demons.

They had known what this was.

Since it was on the catalogue.

<Judgement of Dekrados>

Cost.

60 crystals.

An armament that couldn't even be compared to <Drum of Lempal> which costs 15.

From the beginning the fairies probably didn't expect that someone who would buy such a thing would come out .

Since they probably didn't think that there could be a guy who could monopolize all the Demons that came out.

"You guys over there should think about it again? Since a man's thoughts can change."

Guktae clenched his teeth as he looked at Hansoo who was talking to them whilst retrieving the chains.

'Damnit... He's the problem again.'

The thing that made so many people move was not the words that Hansoo had spoken.

The core point was the actions and the power that grinded the Demons which Hansoo had shown while defending.

He might've been less annoyed if they struggled to form a non-clansmen union but the fact that this had happened because a guy who didn't do anything and only hunted stepped out and spoke a few words annoyed him even more.

Because the effort in which they put in to gather people and have a power struggle felt like it was being mocked.

'Damnable bastard.'

Guktae was locked in worry as he looked at the 200 non-clansmen who were running behind Hansoo and were increasing rapidly.

'Do I need to pull out the special forces?'

Guktae pondered if he should forcibly shut this situation down with the hidden piece that he had prepared for a moment but he shook his head instead.

If they were to collide in this situation, it would be a battle royale.

'I'll follow your orders for now.'

Guktae started to quickly converse with the other Clan Lords.