CH 196

‘Why do they want to see me…?’ Siegfried wondered.

Was there even a reason for thousands of gamers to suddenly come in droves just to meet him?

Siegfried racked his brains and came to a conclusion.

‘There shouldn’t be any reasons…’

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He couldn’t think of any reason why they were here unless they were members of the Genesis Guild seeking revenge. He dared say that there was no concrete reason for the Adventurers to come looking for him.

The video he had uploaded on G-Tube did garner a lot of views, but he couldn’t see why that would make the gamers come to see him in the game.

“Why are they here…?” he muttered.

“Do you wish to meet them, Your Majesty?” Michele asked.

“No? Why should I? Chase them all out,” Siegfried replied.

“Pardon me, Your Majesty…?”

“It could be those Genesis bastards in disguise. What if they went crazy and ignored the emperor’s protection? I don’t see any reason for the Adventurers to come to see me. Send them back.”

“Hmm… I agree with Your Majesty’s thoughts. I will send them back at once,” Michele replied.

“All right, and don’t accept any Adventurer for now. Let’s focus on the newbies starting in our kingdom first,” Siegfried added.

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“What happened to the Weapon Academy?”

“It is still under construction, but the reactions from the people are quite explosive.”

“The reactions are explosive?”

“There are a ton of Adventurers flocking to the makeshift building asking to be taught.”

“They seem to be doing well…”

“It seems that they are the best teachers when it comes to learning the basics of the weapons.”

“That’s great.”

It was then.

“Your Majesty! A magician by the name of Percival from the Magic Academy at the Twin Sprout Village has requested an audience!” the guard announced.

“What?! Daode—I mean, Master Percival is here?!” Siegfried was shocked and immediately stood up after hearing that Daode Tianzun had come here to see him.

“Percival… is it that person by any chance…?” Michele asked.

“Yes.”

“God…”

Michele was shocked that Daode Tianzun was here.

“Your Majesty, please go and greet the elder-nim at once.”

“I know.”

Siegfried rushed out of the throne room to greet Daode Tianzun.

***

“Long time no see! Have you been well?” Daode Tianzun exclaimed.

“It has only been a few days. How have you been, elder-nim?” Siegfried replied.

“Why does it feel like you’re not happy to see me?” Daode Tianzun asked as he inspected Siegfried from head to toe.

“That is because you call me trash or whatever whenever you are bored…”

“Then, what should I call trash aside from trash?”

“But I am no longer a piece of trash…?” Siegfried looked into Daode Tianzun’s eyes and said, “I have become quite strong…”

“Hmm… I admit that you have truly become strong…”

“…?”

“I guess I should call you recyclable trash from now on.”

“I was about to be insubordinate…”

Siegfried almost lost it. He clenched his fists as hard as he could.

‘Y-Your Majesty! Please compose yourself! Our kingdom will be ruined if you do that! We will be wiped off the face of the continent in less than a day!’ Michele felt his heart drop.

Who was Daode Tianzun?

He was a living legend among magicians, and he was a Grandmaster Archmage.

In other words, he could annihilate an entire kingdom with a single wave of his hand.

What if Siegfried messed with someone like that…?

‘Your Majesty! It hasn’t even been a year since our kingdom was established!’ Michele pleaded in his heart without being able to voice out his concerns.

Of course, the two figures couldn’t care less about his concerns.

“Sure! Go ahead! Let’s see what you’re made of! Hit me! Come on! Hit me! Hit this dying old man! Go ahead!”

“Why, you…!”

“Kekeke!”

Daode Tianzun taunted Siegfried.

Siegfried had to exert superhuman self-control to avoid smacking the old magician in the face.

All of a sudden, Daode Tianzun said, “Give me some pocket money.”

The Archmage suddenly asked for money.

“What? You want pocket money from me…?!”

“Yeah.”

“I suggest you collect your pocket money from your real disciples. There will be people lining up to give you everything they have if you go to the Magic Tower.”

“Come on! That’s too burdensome! How can I leech off my disciple at this age?”

“What about me…?”

“You’re a king. It doesn’t count.”

“I think you’ll make much more than I do if you decide to—”

“I’m already old, what do you want me to do?”

“…”

“The village no longer has any children, and my last disciple set out on an adventure a year ago. That’s why I need some money.”

That was when Michele intervened. “E-Excuse me… Daode Tianzun Elder-nim…?”

“Hmm? Who’re you? My, you look quite smart.”

“I am the Minister of State, Michele. Are you perhaps experiencing a management crisis with your academy?”

“Yes, I am. I haven’t had any disciples for a year now, so I had to recently resort to foraging food from the nearby forest.”

“Then, with all due respect, may I suggest that you open your Magic Academy in our kingdom instead?”

“Hmm?”

“His Majesty is interested in investing quite a hefty sum in you, Daode Tianzun-nim. He will be willing to give you a huge allowance and build you an academy if you allow him to do so.”

“Hoho! Look at this smart little kid! It sounds like you’re trying to keep me here.”

Daode Tianzun instantly saw through Michele’s thoughts.

Michele was indeed thinking of tying down Daode Tianzun to the Proatine Kingdom. After all, he was a Grandmaster Archmage, and nobody would call the Proatine Kingdom a weak nation if the world’s strongest magician were living in the kingdom.

Of course, they couldn’t tell the world that Daode Tianzun was residing in their kingdom.

“Not at all. I am just hoping to be of assistance to your comfortable retirement. The Twin Sprout Village has a very small population, and it is remote as well, so there is no one there to receive your teachings.”

“I guess you’re right…”

“I humbly suggest that you come to our kingdom and live a comfortable lifestyle in retirement while raising your disciples…”

“Hmm… That doesn’t sound bad at all. I don’t have anyone else to teach at Twin Sprouts Village…”

“The disciples of the Weapon Master, Shakiro, have already set up a Weapon Academy in our kingdom.”

“Is that true?!”

“The basics are the most important in anything, do you not agree, Elder-nim? Our Proatine Kingdom’s vision is to help the next generation excel at whatever they want to do by establishing different academies for the sake of a strong solid foundation.”

“Oh, that sounds intriguing.”

“Besides, your name is synonymous with magic itself. I’m sure you won’t personally teach the laws of magic, but I strongly believe that there is no better candidate to teach the next generation the fundamentals of magic other than you, Elder-nim.”

Michele indeed had a very glib tongue, and he truly lived up to his title as the Brain of the Proatine Kingdom.

“Hmm… In that case, I think I should give the Magic Academy a shot? An academy that focuses on teaching the fundamentals of magic…?”

“That sounds like an excellent idea, Elder-nim.”

“Yes! Let’s do that!”

In the end, Michele coerced Daode Tianzun into establishing his roots in the Proatine Kingdom. It was a magnificent reversal because Daode Tianzun had come here to extort money from Siegfried.

‘Oh my god… A Grandmaster is going to stay in our kingdom…!’ Michele was in disbelief, even though he was the one who had coerced the Grandmaster in question.

However, Siegfried didn’t think the same.

‘Ah… I picked up an annoying old fart…’

He couldn’t really see the point in taking in Daode Tianzun when he wouldn’t be that helpful in boosting their national power. Therefore, Siegfried thought of the old magician as an annoying old man.

“Ah, I don’t know. I’m busy, so you guys take care of it yourselves. Hey, where’s Hamchi? Hamchi! Where are you? Let’s go!”

Siegfried decided not to concern himself with the matter.

After all, his current top priority was to procure a new weapon.

***

However, Siegfried was faced with an obstacle while he was on his way to the Warp Gate with Hamchi.

“Your Majesty, the Adventurers have set up tents outside the city, and they are not showing any signs of budging.”

“Huh? Tents?”

“Yes, Your Majesty. They said they won’t go away until they get an audience with you.”

“Ah… What’s wrong with them…?” Siegfried narrowed his eyes at the guard’s report.

‘I’m already busy, so why do they have to hinder my plans…? It seems like they’re dead set on meeting me, judging by how they even pitched tents. Hmm, will they really stay here if I refuse to meet them…?’ Siegfried was annoyed by the stubborn Adventurers.

In the end, he decided to meet them today.

After all, meeting them later wouldn’t make a difference.

“I’ll go meet them now, so please tell them to get ready.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

The guard immediately left the city to deliver Siegfried’s message.

“Hamchi.”

“What?”

“I’ll be going for a few minutes, so go ahead and wait for me at the Warp Gate.”

“Kyu~ Must be such a hassle for you, owner punk. Go on, Hamchi will be sunbathing while waiting for you~”

“All right.”

Siegfried went to meet the Adventurers.

Murmur… Murmur…

The location where the Adventurers had pitched their tents started to grow rowdy reminiscent of a marketplace. It wasn’t strange because they had just heard the news that Siegfried would come here to meet them.

“Over there! Let’s go!”

“It’s Siegfried!”

“Siegfried has appeared!”

The nearly two thousand Adventurers gathered in front of the city.

Siegfried was worried that the crowd had Genesis Guild members in hiding.

Fortunately, it seemed that nothing untoward would happen.

“Siegfried!”

The Adventurer at the helm shouted into a microphone made out of wood.

His name was DailyBNW.

“Many people are interested in what you have done against the Genesis Guild!”

“What…?”

“Before that! Please introduce yourself! What is your nationality? You look Korean! How old are you?!”

However, that wasn’t the end of it…

“Siegfried!”

“Let’s do an interview!”

“Why did you do something so rash?!”

There were reporters from various media outlets such as GameKorea, BNWInventory, and BNWGallery.

There were also reporters from major media outlets such as GTV and TheWorldKorea, which was the Korean office of the largest BNW community in the world.

‘Are these bastards here for a scoop…?’ Siegfried was in disbelief.

However, it wasn’t really strange that they had gathered here. The fact that the entire Genesis Guild, which was one of the top ten guilds, was brought to its knees by a Level 200 Adventurer had sent shockwaves throughout the entire world.

The people got even more curious about him upon learning that Siegfried was the winner of the World’s Greatest Survival Tournament and the first player to ever become a king.

‘Was that something to get this worked up for…?’ 

Siegfried couldn’t understand what was going on, and he couldn’t have expected something that it would blow up like this.

“Hey, why don’t you make a guild!”

“Hey, bro! Let’s fight together!”

A bunch of players attracted Siegfried’s gaze.

There were many Adventurers along with the crowd of reporters.

“Hey! Get out of the way! Get your scoop later. We have something important to tell him!”

Someone forced his way to the front of the crowd just to get closer to Siegfried.

“Excuse me, hyung,” said the person after making his way in front of the crowd.

“Hmm?”

“Let’s make a guild together.”

“A guild? What do you mean…?”

“Let’s make a guild. We’ll combine our strength to destroy those Genesis bastards.”

Siegfried immediately understood. ‘Could these people be the same as me? Did they get stomped on by the Genesis Guild?’