Ark the Legend 1-12

by Yoo Seong

  “Before 100 chaotic users were enough but now players are aware of them. Bain has to gather enough troops to decrease the population to less than 2,000 before the time limit to extend the sector!’

  However there was no reason to panic. Ark had suffered a fatal blow because he had been unaware. But Ark already suspected Bain’s plan. There is only one day remaining until he could apply for a sector expansion so he could just stop the pioneers from entering the dungeon. The troops were gathered to PK. And the dungeon was right outside the sector. If they couldn’t leave the dungeon then they couldn’t PK.

  ‘But I can’t be assured with that. If this operation fails then it will be a huge loss to the Laius company. There is no telling what they will do. If Bain gathered this many chaotic users then they might even attack the sector. And then he just has to destroy the tunnel to get rid of the evidence. In that case……’

  He had to drag them out first. That was the conclusion Ark reached. The method was surprisingly simple. It was time for the Royal Guards to show their muscles! Bain had purposefully built the research centre in the path of the channel to annoy Ark. And the tunnel to the dungeon was in the basement.

  ‘I can connect the water channel to the tunnel!’

  At that moment a plan formed in Ark’s head. Needless to say, the ones carrying out the plan were the Royal Guards! The members had spent one month only shovelling. The one who showed the most significant growth was Milan! Once again, the proficiency of a skill could differ even if two people were the same level. Technical achievement depended on the person’s talent and ability to learn. That’s why he removed Mellin and Hegel from digging in the early days. The senior citizen (Mellin) and child (Hegel) showed no signs of their proficiency rising after reaching Dig Lv. 2. Of course it was the same vice versa. The Royal Guards’ proficiency grew at a similar speed once reaching Lv. 2. However, some with talent had their proficiency increase rapidly after reaching Lv. 2 and Milan was the one who showed the most potential.

  “The texture of a shovel in my hand! The comfortable sensation when the shovel digs into the earth! What….I mean…..it seems like I’ve been doing this for a long time…..yes! I have been! The duty of a treasure hunter is to find treasure! And the basic of a treasure search is digging! I can’t possible get this feeling from an excavator! I’m a true treasure hunter for the first time!”

  He awakened! His skill proficiency quickly increased!

  -Milan has realized the heart of ‘Dig’ and his skill proficiency has reached Lv. 4.

  A member who finally beat Ark in digging was born. The enlightenment Milan gained was incredible.

  Pa pa pa pa! Pa pa pa pa!

  Milan dug that land at a speed equivalent to an excavator with just one shovel! The seat of the strongest digger had transferred to Milan but Ark’s Dig was still intermediate level! And the remaining 7 also obtained intermediate Dig. In just one day, Ark and the crew worked together to connect the channel to the dungeon. And when they opened the floodgate! This was the result. The lake water swept Bain and the criminals through the dungeon and outside. This was Ark’s Water Cleaning Strategy!

  “I used the water to eradicate these pests.”

  Ark said with a smile.

  “You…..you bastard…..you dare……”

  “What are you doing?” What is he saying?”

  The chaotic users were still unable to grasp the situation and gaped at Ark.

  “It really isn’t a joke. Well I can understand just by looking at them. Their names indicate they are chaotic. But there’s something I don’t know. I’m certain that tunnel was connected to the Laius research centre. The tunnel was connected to a channel which is why water came flooding in. But why is the director hanging with criminals? Don’t tell me that Laius is conspiring with criminal organizations……”

  “S-shut up! There is no evidence!”

  “No evidence?”

  Ark smiled as he looked around.

  “Isn’t the fact that you’re here evidence?”

  “I told you before! I don’t have any connection with these guys!”

  “I guess we’ll see when I investigate.”

  “Who do you think I am? I am the director of Laius! You guys dare do something……”

  “You seem to have forgotten but I am the administrator of S-20. And right now you are on my land. S-20. I have the authority to investigate even if you are Laius’ director.”

  “T-that……”

  Bain retreated with a pale, stricken face. He then lifted his head and looked at those gathered at the dungeon entrance. In the meantime he had summoned chaotic users from around the planet. They numbered 2,000. That kind of number could take care of all the pioneers gathered around. No, they had to! If he gave up then Bain was a dead man anyway. The Vice President wouldn’t leave him alive. But there was still hope if Ark and the pioneers at S-20 were annihilated. Ark would be deprived of his administrator license and Laius would obtain S-20. Then Laius would cover up what happened here!

  “Kill them!”

  Bain waved his arm and shouted.

  “Kill all the guys here! It is the only way to live!”

  The 2,000 chaotic users simultaneously took out their weapons. It wasn’t because of Bain’s command. They had no choice but to kill the pioneers in order to escape.

  “Dammit! If this happens then we have to see it through to the end!”

  “Yes, we were going to do it anyway so let’s blow up the whole sector!”

  “Chaotic scum!”

  The pioneers also lifted their weapons. And just before there would be a flurry of blades and bullets!

  Kwaaaaah! Kwaaaaah!

  An explosion scattered the clouds in the sky above the two groups. Dozens of airships appeared in with a flash of light. Bain and the chaotic users’ faces drained of blood as they saw the airships. It was due to the mark on the hull. The blue planet and ship of the galactic federation!

  –Galactic federation’s 1st special division.

  That was the sentence written below the mark.

  ——————————————————————————————-

  “Hah……”

  The man occupying the captain seat in the centre of the main airship. The middle aged noble looked at the monitor and clicked his tongue. He looked at his adjutant before smiling and saying.

  “This is really perplexing. I was just observing the 1st special division’s training manoeuvres only to see this scene. Doesn’t it seem like thieves are attacking that sector? A sector falls under the authority of the federation. Those thieves are attacking a sector. We might be here for training but we can’t pretend ignorance. Isn’t that right?”

  “I agree!”

  The adjutant proclaimed.

  “Then this will be our practice. The special division is one of the two major forces of the Emperor. The opponents are just mere thieves so they can be considered practice. Don’t disgrace yourselves when fighting with them.”

  “That’s right!”

  “I’ll give you 30 minutes.”

  The middle aged noble said after peering at his watch.

  “Don’t let even one of them leave alive.”

  “Go! Special Division, attack!”

  The adjutant shouted through the microphone and a lower portion of the airships opened.

  Dugung! Dugung! Dugung! Dugung!

  Thousands of soldiers started pouring out of the air chute like bees from a beehive. The sight of thousands of soldiers pouring down like rain was spectacular!

  “It can’t be! What? Youuuuuuu!”

  And to some people it was a nightmare.

  Space 4

  After the Clean-up

  ‘This is Jyubel?’

  Ark looked at the man sitting opposite him. He heard the name several times but this was the first time he saw him. Currently the federation council was divided into two big powers. One principle axis was belonged to Marquis Martin, aka the
military factor. Marquis Martin who was in charge of the Domestic Affairs department was the head of the other one, aka the parliament faction. They were the heads of the two big factions! Ark naturally imagined a crafty aristocrat but Jyubel was actually quite young. He was in his late 30s or early 40s?

  But that didn’t mean he was easy or soft. The fact that he reached this position at his age meant he was a noble Ark should be wary of. He wasn’t the only one Ark needed to be wary of. There was a middle aged man sitting next to Jyubel. According to Marquis Martin’s introduction, he was the vice president of the Laius company.

  “Marquis Martin-nim must be quite leisurely now that there is a treaty in the Bellin constellation. You suddenly wanted to meet me and the Laius’ vice president.”

  Jyubel was the first one to open his mouth. Marquis Martin replied with a light smile.

  “That isn’t the case.”

  “I’m pretty busy these days but I’m willing to talk if Marquis Martin-nim requires it. But the fact that you called the Laius company as well…..do you want something specifically?”

  “It’s not something great. There’s just something interesting.”

  “Something interesting?”

  “Let’s start with the introduction. This young man is Ark. He is the one who received the titles of Beltana and Athamas’ Hero so you must’ve heard of him. Not long ago he became the administrator of S-20.”

  “I’m curious about what the interesting thing you mention is.”

  Jyubel didn’t even both looking at Ark. Ark felt like a dog being ignored but he didn’t pay attention to it. The reason for this meeting wasn’t to socialize. Marquis Martin laughed softly at Jyubel’s words and said.

  “Like Marquis Jyubel-nim said, I’m quite idle these days. Therefore I decided to observe some military exercises. Just before I went out with the 1st special division for some training manoeuvres. While training, I passed by this friend’s sector and was exposed to an unexpected incident. I think Marquis Jyubel-nim and Vice President-nim will be interested in this incident.”

  “I wonder why you think we would be interested.”

  “You’ll understand once you see it. Ark, start.”

  Ark nodded and touched his Nymphe. A 3D image then emerged before the eyes of the four people gathered.

  ———————————————————————————–

  Thump, thump, thump, thump!

  There was a continuous thumping sound. It was the sound of thousands of soldiers landing on Mt. Fargo! They were the elite warriors of the 1st special division. When they appeared the chaotic users paled with fear.

  “How did they…..this……”

  Bain’s reaction wasn’t that different from the chaotic users around him. They were about to kill all the pioneers in the sector when these soldiers had suddenly appeared. If was difficult for them to grasp the situation. Then one of the soldiers walked up to Ark.

  “Are you the sector administrator?”

  “Yes, I am Ark the administrator of S-20.”

  “I’m the leader of the 1st special division, Croc. We were practicing some training manoeuvres when we witnessed this scene by chance. Sectors aren’t under the jurisdiction of the special division but we can’t just enough this emergency. Can you tell me the details about the situation?”

  “It is like you can see.”

  Ark indicated towards Bain and the chaotic users.

  “These armed bandits are on the verge of attacking the sector. As you can see, this is just a small sector so there isn’t a relay antenna to request help from the federation.”

  “So these people are thieves.”

  “Yes, please help us.”

  Ark replied with a smile.

  Their situation was cleaned up with those words.

  “This is the 1st special division! It is an emergency! Stop the training and exterminate these thieves! Change the scope to criminal identification and handle these guys!”

  Tutung! Tutung! Tutung!

  After hearing Croc’s orders, the backpacks of thousands of soldiers opened and capsules soared out. They revolved in the air and the battle suits covered the bodies of the soldiers. The thousands of soldiers in battle suits rushed forward.

  “Heok! They’re coming!”

  “Dammit! How can we deal with these guys?”

  “Shit! I shouldn’t have come to this place!”

  The chaotic users rushed back and forth while screaming. However there was no option to surrender so they had no other choice. Even if they surrendered, they had to pay an enormous penalty and would be imprisoned. They decided it was better to fight. The chaotic users came to that realization and determinedly lifted their swords and guns……

  Tutututu! Pepeng! Chwajijijijijik!

  They were smashed. This battle wasn’t a fight in the first place. Usually in virtual reality games the NPCs had lower attack power than the users. However not all NPCs were the same. In RPGs weren’t there lords and kings? It was common sense for them to have strong guardsmen.

  –The demon showed up! It is impossible with our power! Warrior-nim, help us!

  They were talking to the guardsmen. The King would send his warriors to defeat the demon.

  ‘They need to have a lot of skills to take care of demons……’

  Any user who played RPGs knew about this. It was inevitable in order to balance out the game. Of course, virtual reality games were more realistic than classic RPGs. If a user collected troops then they could even cause a coup d’état. In other words, there always needed to be a balance between users who steadily raised their levels and NPCs. In this world the strongest soldiers were aligned with the highest power! Now these soldiers were in S-20.

  They were the guard division that defended the Emperor of the galactic federation. The strongest unit of the galactic federation! They were the strongest NPCs so users who had only been levelling for 5~6 months weren’t a match for them. It was the same for the chaotic users.

  “How can we beat battle suits like that?”

  “Those bastards aren’t getting damaged!”

  “Hik! A particle gun! 50% of my health flew away at once!”

  The chaotic users screamed. The pioneers at S-20 weren’t just watching either. Although some were gathered at S-20 to find gallstones, a vast majority of them were chaotic hunters. The pioneers couldn’t miss this opportunity.

  “Wow! Look at all the items falling!”

  “It is like a lottery! Now isn’t the time to just be watching!”

  “This is an opportunity! Use everything!”

  The pioneers entered the battle as well! 2,000 pioneers had gathered at S-20 but some prominent users had arrived as chaotic hunters. Among them were users with a superior performance that Ark hadn’t expected.

  “Thousand lights! Spear Smash!”

  A user twisted a spear with rays of light on both sides. It was the user who reached the top 10 in the PVP arena tournament.

  “Go! Sweep through them!”

  Not far away Park was manipulating his Nymphe. He controlled the autobots. The dinosaur shaped one was a defensive autobot while the other one was used to attack. However the one who showed the most unique fighting style was the woman called Kaya.

  “That damn bitch!”

  “DNA transformation!”

  “Huk! What, what the? My hair and body, why……Bark! Bark!”

  Kaya launched something at a chaotic user and he turned into a puppy. He waves his tail and barked until he was stabbed to death with a rapier. It had been more than 5 months and they were using skills he had never seen before.

  “Bring it on! This great Hoover will slaughter all of you!”

  Well, there was one user who kept on bragging. Anyway, so many well-known users fighting in the same place was a truly spectacular sight! They weren’t organized like the special soldiers but their colourful technology cornered the chaotic users. And…..

  “Khafra Fencing 3rd
style! Galaxy Sword!”

  Kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa!

  Ark couldn’t be left behind.

  Dozens of swords crossed the battlefield!

  “Armour armament! Hyper Booster!”

  The battle suit clad Ark flew around the chaotic users like a flash of light. The blue sword swept around in a geometric pattern. Three or four chaotic users fell at the same time.

  “That person is Ark……”

  Ark didn’t know the surrounding pioneers. But there was no one gathered in S-20 who didn’t know Ark. He was the sector manager but prior to that he had received the titles of Beltana and Athamas’ Hero! Any user on Istana would’ve heard of him at least once. And now Ark was unleashing flash sword techniques. He wasn’t doing this to show off.

  ‘If a chaotic user dies then they will unconditionally drop one equipment!’

  Chaotic users wouldn’t wear cheap equipment. When he was hunting them in the dungeon, he gained at least a minimum of 100 gold from each equipment. Now there were 2,000 chaotic users in front of him. It was a money field! Moving gold!

  “Shield Emission!”

  Naturally Ark became stronger.

  “Defense Break! Set Bullets Shooting!”

  In this situation he was 150%, no 200% stronger.

  “Khafra Fencing 3rd style! Galaxy Sword!”

  Some aliens would turn into a giant monkey by looking at the moon but for Ark it was gold! Gold warmed his mind and body. And the ones that met Ark’s expectations the most in this battle were Mellin and Hegel. Mellin was an old NPC so his strength, stamina and agility were far below all the other members. Instead his wisdom and intelligence was high. Therefore Mellin’s training in the Silver Hand focused on handling explosives. By the end of the training he was an expert with explosives.

  But explosives couldn’t be used that often in combat. It was hard for bombs to have a big effect in a 1-on-1 battle so it wasn’t used when dealing with monsters. A bomb only had an effect against lots of people. Like right now!