Overgeared - Chapter 1009

Chapter 1009: 1009

The former emperors believed that the higher the level of the people, the stronger the nation .  It was one of the reasons why the empire wasn’t wealthy .  The empire conferred more welfare and benefits to its people as it conquered and exploited others .  They hoped the people would take pride in themselves as citizens of the empire and focus on self-development, which would also grow the empire .  This was the empire’s investment for thousands of years .  

---!

The archer Rainhud was one of the talents raised by the empire .  The extremely developed archer perceived the breeze coming from afar and recognized the wavelength of the air .

“ . . . ” Rainhud captured a glow in the sky and lowered his gaze . His eyes stared at the horizon and captured a blue stream of magic power .  He instantly captured Yura in his gaze .  The string of his bow was pulled back .  He had no intention of letting go of an enemy who dared to shoot at the empire .

Rainhud released the bowstring .  The sparkling bullet that flew toward the allied formation exploded as it collided with the magic barrier .  There was a glaring light that obstructed Rainhud’s visibility .

“Keuk . . . !” Rainhud lost his aiming point, and the arrow he fired was weaker than usual .  Rainhud’s arrow, which should’ve penetrated Yura, was intercepted in the air .  It was an arrow made of jaffa .  Rainhud recognized it instantly .  It was the arrow of the woman he killed twice .

“You!”

The greatest shame of an archer wasn’t when they failed to hit the target but when they were targeted . The disgrace he felt when the arrow he’d shot became a target was too great .  The excuse of losing his sight because of the flash didn’t work .  Rainhud had to make up for it . He once again drew back the bowstring .

The magic bombardment of Noll in the sky intensified, causing Rainhud to lose his balance for a moment .  He hurriedly shifted his gaze back and saw an absurd scene . The crazy female archer of the Overgeared Kingdom was approaching on a camel .

“Why is she committing suicide?”

Rainhud tried to aim at the female archer only to then come to a stop .  It was due to the phoenix rising from behind the archer .  The hot heat emitted by the phoenix seemed to melt the entire desert .

“It is useless! Don’t be deceived!”

“It isn’t a big deal!”

The soldiers ignored the phoenix .  A few days ago, the phoenix fired from a distance was blocked by the magic barrier .  However, now the distance was too close .  It was a distance where the magic barrier which worked against snipers couldn’t take effect .

Rainhud paled, and he quickly fired an arrow .  He planned to assassinate the archer before the phoenix’s attack hit .

“Ohhhhh!” Then a black man came running with a shield and protected the archer . He was a very durable man and didn’t fall down easily .  

“Shit!” Rainhud blamed the monster in the sky .  The firepower of Rainhud’s allies wasn’t concentrated because of Noll .  The screams of the soldiers echoed as they were swallowed up by the fire .  Grey pillars rose continuously, and Rainhud lost one eye . This was the moment when the quality of the archer weakened .

“Kuah . . . ! Kuaaaaak!” Rainhud’s scream of anger and resentment was directed at Jishuka .  This was the beginning of a new growth .

[★Hidden Quest★ Expert Archer’s Grudge has occurred!]

[Expert Archer’s Grudge]

[★ Hidden Quest ★

The expert archer, whose name isn’t known, has a big grudge against you and plans revenge . In the future, he will live to kill you .

Survive the sniping!

Quest Clear Conditions: Survive 10 sniping attempts that might occur in the future .

Quest Clear Rewards: Every time you survive, your agility and sensing stats will increase . ]

“Isn’t this good?”

Jishuka retreated with Yura’s help .  She managed to soothe her pain of dying two times in the war .  Moreover, she wasn’t alone .  There were numerous crises during the war, and the suffering Overgeared members were growing significantly in power .

***

Satisfy had a hierarchy for the countless classes .  Some classes were spotlighted by people at the pinnacle of the pyramid while others at the bottom of the pyramid were shunned .  The artillery class was a typical low-status class .  The expression ‘underprivileged’ was an exaggeration .

Satisfy currently had no portable artillery such as bazookas .  There were rumors that they could get portable artillery from the dwarf city or the East Continent, but it didn’t matter . . . They weren’t circulated on the market .  Thanks to this, the artillerymen had to use cannons as weapons, and at least three of them were required to operate one cannon . Moreover, most shells were purchased by the empire and kingdoms .

That’s right .  For all sorts of reasons, the artillerymen were a half-rate class that couldn’t even use weapons . Proper hunting was impossible .  The only way for artillerymen to progress was to enlist in the army .

“This garbage class has nothing to do even during a war . ”

The 1st place on the artillerymen rankings, ‘Lost Justice’—she didn’t take pride in her number one ranking . Out of two billion users, there were only 10,000 artillerymen .  In fact, she was only level 180, barely reaching the average level of most players .  It was a level she managed to gain thanks to joining the imperial army and receiving the daily cannon training quest .  Her Firearms Mastery skill level had also been raised to the beginner master stage .  Yes, beginner master . . .  

It was garbage compared to NPC artillerymen .  In the imperial army where there were countless NPC artillerymen, Lost Justice’s position was very low .  The proof was that she didn’t have a chance to enter the war one month after the war with the Overgeared Kingdom started .

“Hah . . . ” She had to suck her fingers even after a big war started .  Lost Justice regarded war as an opportunity, but the reality of it was hopeless .  She had worried about it hundreds and thousands of times already, and she started thinking again, ‘Should I change classes?’

It was now almost a habit .  The reason she hadn’t changed her class so far was that she had pride .  She was too proud to turn away from the last few years of frustration and hard work .  The reason why she initially chose an artilleryman was simple . She thought it would be safe shooting a cannon from a distance .

[A friend request from ‘Lauel’ has arrived . ]

“ . . . ?”

Staring at a distant mountain, sighing, pulling her hair, and so on, Lost Justice was showing intense signs of depression when she suddenly doubted her eyes .  She received a friend request .  Someone was asking to be her friend? It was a big event she had never experienced ever since becoming an artilleryman .

“U-Uhh?” Lost Justice belatedly accepted the friend request .  She didn’t care about the person asking to be her friend .  She was just glad, joyful and amazed .

[The player ‘Lauel’ has become a friend . ]

-Hello? Are you Lost Justice? I am Lauel of the Overgeared Kingdom and Overgeared Guild .

-Ah, yes .  H-Hello .  Huhu .

She couldn’t believe the day when she would use the whisper system had come! The experience of talking to a strange whose face she didn’t know was really exciting . It felt very different from a phone call .

- . . . Huh? Lost Justice laughing excitedly belatedly made a blank expression .  -O-Overgeared Guild?

Beings in a completely alien world—the members of the Overgeared Guild were world class stars who owned the Overgeared Kingdom and were currently in a war with the empire .  Lost Justice recognized them as celebrities who could only be seen on TV .  Now an Overgeared member, Grid’s right arm, had sent her a whisper?

“Is this a scam?”

It was an unbelievable situation .  Lost Justice brought up her friends list .  The information of her only friend, Lauel, was revealed .

[Lauel]

[Level: 335

Guild: Overgeared Guild 

Kingdom: Overgeared Kingdom]

“Level 3-335!”

The current average level of the high rankers was around 370 .  Compared to them, Lauel’s level was rather low . In order to serve the country, he had no time to hunt because he was struggling with managing internal affairs .  Yet from Lost Justice’s point of view, Lauel’s level was huge .  The level felt like it was at another dimension .

-Y-Y-You are real!

-Haha, did you think I was an impostor? Well, I am a high-profile figures, so I’m a good target to impersonate .  Kukuk .

- . . . Ah, yes .  What is your business?

Lost Justice didn’t like Lauel originally . A man who lived on his high horse was tiring in many ways .  Lauel was confused as Lost Justice’s fervent reaction quickly cooled down, so he cut to the chase .  -We are recruiting artillerymen for the Overgeared Guild .

-Yes, I see .  Huh? -You are recruiting artillerymen for the Overgeared Guild? Why?

-It is necessary .

-B-But the Overgeared Guild is the best guild in the world, and artillerymen are garbage .

-Garbage . . .  That isn’t the case .  Artillerymen are a must for the Overgeared Guild .

-This isn’t a scam?

-No .

- . . .

Indeed, it couldn’t be a scam .  It would be a one-sided loss for a bigshot like Lauel to waste time tricking her .  Lauel’s voice continued, -There is a village on the outskirts of the empire where the Ul Clan used to live .  It is a completely ruined place now .  If you send a whisper there, I’ll send a person to pick you up .

*** 

The development of the Overgeared Cannon was definitely a great accomplishment, but Lauel had a headache .  Grid had overlooked one aspect, which was the scarcity of artillerymen .  In particular, the Overgeared Kingdom’s army relied more on the mass-production Grid set than artillery and they neglected the training of artillerymen .  The Overgeared Kingdom had only 100 artillerymen, and even those small numbers weren’t trained properly .  They had to consume shells to practice shooting cannons, and this all consumed money .

‘It is ridiculously small . ’

100 artillerymen could only operate 33 Overgeared Cannons .  It might be different if only Grid could make the Overgeared Cannons, but the craftsmen were able to produce the Overgeared Cannons .  Considering the volume of black iron, hundreds of Overgeared Cannon could be produced in the future .  More artillerymen were needed .

Then Lauel was reminded of the players .  Lauel changed the rankings to the class lists, went to the ‘artillerymen’ category and identified the first 100 ranked artillerymen players .  Then he became scared .

‘The 1st ranked player is level 180 . ’

The 100th ranked play was only level 113 .  It felt like he was seeing the rankings list five years ago .

‘Did time stop for the artillerymen?’

It was an absurd idea .  Lauel shook his head and sent a friends request to all 100 players, starting with the 1st ranked Lost Justice and ending with the 100th ranked player .  Then he had an interesting experience .  100 people accepted Lauel’s friend request . Moreover, the response to his whisper was instantaneous .  They seemed like hungry people .

“This . . . ”

Originally, Lauel was planning to present good conditions to the artillerymen . He thought he should appease them with the best terms since he was in the unfavorable position .  Then he changed his mind after learning about the realities of artillerymen .  Lauel just gave them the offer to join the Overgeared Guild, and the 100 artillerymen readily agreed .

‘The time has come to create Overgeared Four . ’

It was the guild name .  The Overgeared Artillerymen group .

‘The key is who to make the guild master . . . ’

Who would be the person to command the 100 artillerymen rankers? Lauel considered the role the artillerymen would play in the future . He wondered about the leader they needed .

‘The main stage of the artillerymen is the battlefield, not the hunting ground . In order to control them, I need a leader who can read a battlefield well . Artillerymen have low mobility, their defense is weak and they shouldn’t attract aggro . . . ’

They needed to have quick judgment and composure to set the shooting point . It was good to have the ability to read wind direction .  Who could be the leader who met all these conditions? After a while, Lauel came to a conclusion .

“There is no one . ”

The Overgeared members had strong and individual personalities . They were geniuses with strong self-esteem and selfishness .  In the first guild, there was no one with the ability to lead the artillerymen .

“It can’t be helped . ”

He would have to lead the artillerymen to Toban, who had been the former chief of staff for the Tzedakah Guild .  Toban had experience with reading the field in the war and skills to protect his allies . He might not be perfect, but he would lead the artillerymen well until their place was settled .

‘I need to pay more attention to the guild members in the future . ’

Overgeared One, Overgeared Workforce . . . No, Overgeared Two… and finally, there was the Overgeared Shadows .  Currently, there were three guilds and 913 guild members .  Lauel remembered all of their abilities and characteristics, but he didn’t know the details of their background or personality .  

The excuse was that he lacked time .  He fully understood the early members but didn’t have time to interact with the new recruits .  The main problem was that Grid was the same . Lauel had the intelligence to memorize all the names, faces, and basic features of the members, but Grid was different . Grid didn’t even know the names and faces of the guild members .  Lauel had a hunch that this was the most important time .

‘If we are being swept away by the outside, we need to firm up the inside . ’

Lauel rushed to the smithy .  Grid and the craftsmen were trying to produce something bigger than their height .

“You said you are going to invite artillerymen? You have suffered a lot . ”

How far ahead was his development? Lauel was impressed that Grid had noticed his approach despite the uproar .

“Kukuk, as expected of the man who received my recognition . . . ” Lauel laughed while covering his face with one hand, and Grid ignored him .  He had learned from experience that it was better not to react when Lauel suddenly spoke bullshit .  It was as expected .

“Hum hum .  I think we need to establish Overgeared Four,” Lauel coughed with embarrassment and brought out the main point .

“Is it due to the artillerymen that will be recruited this time?”

“Yes . ”

“Well, then . Let’s create it . ” 

“Yes . Additionally, let’s have an event to celebrate the formation of the fourth group . ”

“ . . . An event?”

Weren’t they in a war right now? 

Lauel laughed at Grid’s absurd reaction .  “I will call the Overgeared members to Reidan and set off fireworks . ”

“Is it to show our composure to the empire?”

“Yes, it's a common bravado . The effect will be clear . The morale of the imperial soldiers will fall when they see us partying in a war . ”

“Yes . Then do it . ”

The event would end with a toast .  

Lauel’s next words were like a bolt out of the blue for Grid who was trying to think simply .