Chapter 45: The True Monarch of the Forest

There was a lot to be done first.

The Elders of the Dwarves.

The King of the Sunlight Fairies.

The witches and other races who haven’t been rescued yet must be trapped somewhere. Saving them takes priority.

“Ogres and Goblins. Fryra. You three will roam the forest and liberate the slaves.”

[Understood.]

【Yes! Let’s go, Pig.】

[We’ll be back soon.]

Balak was asked to prepare dishes that could restore Ropenheim’s energy, and Ropenheim was told to rest.

Then, Anne was asked.

“How do we activate the tablet?”

“You have to go to the sanctuary.”

“Then let’s go right away.”

Taking Anne and the witches along, they moved toward the witch’s house. The witches smiled brightly as they stepped into their homeland.

“It’s been a while since I’ve been back, so it’s probably messy. I’m cleaning it thoroughly and stoking the fire under the cauldron again.”

“Okay.”

“Understood, Your Majesty.”

“Good luck! Leave this place to us.”

Leaving the excited witches behind, they followed Anne out of the garden.

“The sanctuary is a little walk from here.”

“Lead the way.”

“Yes. I’ll go first.”

Walking ahead with Anne, they headed toward the sanctuary. During the walk, questions about the Tablet War were asked.

“What is that?”

“There’s a legend that if you collect all seven tablets existing in this forest, you gain a strong power that surpasses the limits of your race. The Tablet War is the battle fought to achieve that legend.”

“Then do the other lords each have one?”

“Yes.”

So that means at least six more exist.

If you twist the time axis six times, how much does time stretch?

Even if it extends just one day per twist, that’s seven days.

One day spent in reality would be equivalent to a week passing in the Dragon Rare.

‘If that’s the case, can we use the rift’s crack every day?’

This is something that needs to be checked as well. Whether the rift’s crack cooldown is based on reality or on Dragon Rare time.

This can also be verified with the tablet they currently possess.

“Has any race ever gathered all the tablets?”

“No. The Vampire race once collected up to three. But other races united to stop them.”

It was an inevitable phenomenon.

For the second and third places to band together to stop first place—that happens quite often.

“Then the Vampire race disappeared?”

“At the time of defeat, they were on the brink of annihilation. But they regrouped, regained power, and recaptured their original sanctuary.”

“So the races aren’t fixed?”

“No. Just like the Lycan took their place. The lord’s seat keeps rotating, making unification even harder.”

While gathering various other pieces of information during the walk, they finally arrived at the sanctuary.

A temple with white pillars standing tall.

It was covered in all kinds of weeds from neglect over a long time.

“Clean.”

Anne used magic to clear the weeds as they walked. Following the path that was becoming clean, they came upon a small fountain.

Clear water flowed from the fountain.

The water ran along a small channel to somewhere. At the end of the waterway was a space to place the tablets.

A carved-shaped slot on the wall.

“You just insert the tablet here and channel mana into it.”

The shattered tablet was fitted into the matching slot.

Mana from the Dragon Heart was channeled into the tablet.

Then, the tablet glowed with a blue light.

[You have activated the Fragmented Time Tablet.]

[You have become the True Lord of the Forest.]

[All stats in the Seventh Forest have doubled.]

[Map of the Seventh Forest acquired.]

[You may declare the Tablet War.]

[The time axis twists. From now on, time flows differently between reality and Dragon Rare.]

“Map of the forest?”

“Would you like to come here?”

Following Anne to the fountain, an image appeared above the round fountain.

“This is the map of the forest. Blue marks allies, red marks enemies, and neutral spots are shown in gray. White marks locations where resources can be gathered.”

“What defines an enemy?”

“The races that hold tablets and those who have taken the Pledge of Subjugation to those races.”

Looking at the map, gray dots were scattered everywhere.

Probably the slaves that Redoc had imprisoned.

Blue dots—Ogres, Goblins, and Fryra—were moving quickly, freeing the slaves.

“Amazing.”

“This is why unification is so difficult. If you invade another forest, the opponent can see it and respond.”

“So truly overwhelming power is needed.”

“Yes.”

They roughly understood the situation.

“This map can only be checked here, right?”

“Yes.”

“You’ll also need personnel to guard this place.”

“I’ll take care of it for now. I’ve been doing this a long time, so leave it to me and I’ll do my best.”

“That’s a relief.”

“Are you thinking about war?”

“No.”

There was no intention to start a war immediately.

Right now, the priority was to eliminate Redoc’s forces and stabilize the Seventh Forest.

Free the slaves to include them in their power base.

Activate the resource-gathering spots.

Gradually develop territory and grow the strength to fight other lords.

Above all.

Since the original objective had been achieved, there was no need to overextend.

“Oh, and one more favor.”

“Go ahead.”

“Can you make a large batch of potions?”

“Yes. Please tell me what you want. How many do you need?”

“First, stamina recovery potions. Could you make 100,000 a day in bottles this size?”

“I’d have to try, but at that size, 3,000 is probably the limit. It still takes time to recover energy… Is it urgent?”

“No, that’s enough for now.”

“Then I’ll try to speed up recovery and increase production.”

“Is that possible?”

“Yes. If recovery goes well, production can definitely increase.”

“Oh. One more thing. Can you make elixirs too?”

“Yes, if we have the materials.”

Okay.

That’s settled.

“Let’s focus on recovery first. Do you need anything else?”

Growl.

“Hmm. It’s because I was sealed for so long.”

“Right. Let’s go eat.”

Yoo Seolha ate the breakfast her mother had prepared and went into her room to put on the golden robe.

A reward from reaching the 30th floor of the Golden Tower.

Wearing the robe increased concentration and reduced mana consumption.

Currently, she was the only one to receive this robe.

After slipping a glance at the mirror, she left the room.

“I’ll be back.”

“How long will it take this time?”

“About a week? I’ll contact you in between.”

She put on her shoes, went outside, and got in the car.

Vroooom!

Starting the engine and pressing the accelerator, she headed toward the association where the Golden Tower stood.

After leaving the parking lot, she turned on auto mode.

Inside the self-driving car, she opened the Golden Tower research window.

[Thunder God Dragon’s Instant Death Magic Research]

This research had started a few days ago, and each time progress was made, magical insights were gained.

Currently at stage 4.

The research needed to be completed through 5 stages.

“Let’s begin.”

Expanding the research window, all kinds of formulas and numbers appeared like a puzzle to solve.

Solve.

Solve.

As she solved them, she suddenly realized she had arrived in front of the association.

She parked the car in the designated space for Golden Tower personnel and went up.

There, familiar faces appeared.

“Tower Master, hello.”

“Are you just starting work now?”

Two mages from the Golden Tower, who had recently surpassed the 10th floor, were pouring coffee in the café.

“Yes. Did you both stay up all night?”

“Since the tower level 5 breakthrough is close, we’ve been doing dungeons hard. No money, so we’re working with our bodies.”

“Same here. We need new recruits soon.”

Working hard was good, but health came first.

Yoo Seolha cast a recently learned spell on them.

A simple spell to clear the mind.

“Oh? Tower Master, did you do that?”

“My mind feels clearer.”

“The effect won’t last long. Go home and rest well. Come back tomorrow.”

Solve.

Solve.

Yoo Seolha moved again, heading to the Golden Tower.

Then a group of people rushed up.

“Let me in! I’m a Korean Hunter too! Please let me in!”

“Please give me one more chance, Tower Master. I can do better if you let me in again.”

“I’ll pay you, Tower Master! Just let me enter! How much do you need?”

Recent nuisances.

Those people would be handled by the association employees who come in the morning.

So they wouldn’t be able to approach here again.

Yoo Seolha rotated a circle, casting magic.

There was no need to scowl or deal with them directly.

She created a wind barrier to block their approach, then entered the tower.

[Entering Golden Tower.]

A small research room appeared.

A laboratory on the 25th floor.

Research on magic and overall tower matters was conducted here. Yoo Seolha approached a wide desk filled with various materials.

Solve.

Solve.

[Thunder God Dragon’s Instant Death Magic Research]

The research window appeared.

The more people joined, the faster the efficiency, but currently Yoo Seolha was the only one here.

“Let’s finish quickly and make some money.”

She moved her fingers to press the buff icon on the top left.

[Blessing of the Golden Dragon received.]

[A blessing descends on the entire Golden Tower.]

[Concentration increased for 1 hour.]

[Magic comprehension increased for 1 hour.]

This buff could be obtained by donating 10 million won each.

At first, she climbed without it just fine, but after tasting the free buff, her thinking completely changed.

Now she couldn’t imagine climbing without the buff.

So she paid money.

‘Now I understand why people spend money on games.’

Not just for buffs, money was also needed to level up the tower.

So far, she had invested 30 billion won.

Using her father’s inheritance and the money earned from being a Hunter, she had poured it all into the Golden Tower.

She had climbed to the 50th floor through rapid growth, but was stuck at the 51st because of the tower level.

‘I’m out of money now…’

To level up the tower, several hundred billion won would be needed.

Of course, money wasn’t the only way.

By running dungeons, submitting loot, or completing achievements, experience was gradually gained.

However, climbing rapidly then slowing down was frustrating.

She wanted to dump money into the tower and rapidly increase experience.

With her current skills, she could make a lot of money outside.

But first, she had to finish the research.

“Let’s start.”

Unlike in the car, the buff sharply increased efficiency.

She immersed herself crazily in research.

Along with accumulating diverse research knowledge in her head, she pushed hard on the stage 4 research.

[Stage 4 research completed.]

[Significant tower experience gained.]

[Insufficient materials for stage 5 research.]

[Thunder Heart (S)]

[Please obtain the Thunder Heart before proceeding with the research.]

The heart wasn’t something that could be obtained immediately. With all possible research done, she was now free to move around.

Yoo Seolha sighed and leaned back.

“It’s done.”

She checked the remaining tower experience.

Completing stage 4 research filled it to 90%.

“That’s more than I expected.”

Filling the last 10% wouldn’t be difficult, but what came after was the problem. Tower level 6 would require an enormous amount of money.

Buffs for climbing the tower smoothly.

To solve all this, she needed a way to secure a large amount of money.

“…”

While taking a moment to clear her head, Yoo Seolha’s eyes flashed.

Information gained from the stage 4 research.

She jumped up from her seat and took off the bracelet on her wrist.

Stretching both hands, she placed her hands over the bracelet.

Drawing a magic circle on it, she inscribed formulas relating to lightning attribute resistance.

It was a delicate task requiring precise mana control.

She carefully and steadily drew the formulas without mistakes.

Then she rotated the circle to finish the process.

Vwoooong!

Magic was imbued into the bracelet.

[Enchant succeeded.]

[Lower-grade lightning attribute resistance granted.]

[You have comprehended Enchantment Magic on your own. Understanding of Enchantment Magic greatly increased.]

She found it.

A way to make money.

A twitch appeared at the corner of Yoo Seolha’s mouth.

“…Hehe.”

Time to earn money quickly and level up the tower.

Lee Changgeon followed his secretary to the warehouse in the basement of the association.

Wooden boxes were piled up there.

“What’s this?”

“Potions sent by the Hidden Piece Discoverer.”

“How many in total?”

“One thousand in all. They say more will be supplied over time.”

“Is that so?”

He took out a red potion from inside the box.

[Lowest-grade Health Recovery Potion (S)]

• Quickly heals shallow wounds and slightly increases recovery ability.
• All stats slightly increase for 1 hour.
• Effects do not stack, but taking multiple doses simultaneously causes no problem.

Originally, lowest-grade potions only healed minor wounds and had no other effects.

Also, drinking them in quick succession caused dizziness, vomiting, and fever.

But this potion had no side effects and even raised stats.

It was a shocking potion, beyond absurd.

“What is this? This bizarre potion that’s lowest-grade but with S-rank effects?”

“I’ve never seen anything like it either.”

“Are all the potions inside this box like this?”

“Yes. Since they’re donated to the association, you can use them freely. Official sales will begin as soon as the shop is built.”

With this, Korea could seize the potion market from China.

“What time is it now exactly?”

“9:59 AM.”

“Has there been any response from China yet?”

“No.”

He recalled the conversation with the Hidden Piece Discoverer.

If there’s no apology after a full day, start the control.

The secretary spoke again.

“It’s 10 o’clock.”

“Give the potions to Imemaengnyang and deliver the first official mission.”

Lee Changgeon smiled.

“Begin the control of China.”