00605 The large stem does not change. … Wouldn’t it? ————————————————– ———————-=
“wait a minute.”
It was then.
Just before the puzzled feeling went away, Han So-young quickly stopped his brother.
Han So-young’s face was as hard as ice. Only after seeing her attitude did I understand why I had stopped her mid-sentence.
Northwest Alliance.
Allied with the West and the North.
At first, I had a strong feeling that this was an alliance in the middle of an attack.
But even without that, the weight of the word alliance is by no means light.
Above all, there are many ears listening now.
If any of the details about this are leaked out in any way, it will not have any positive effects in the future. Because rumors tend to be false.
“About what you just said… . “I think it would be better to talk separately.”
I knew it.
As if my thoughts were correct, Soyoung Han immediately requested a one-on-one conversation. His older brother nodded his head in agreement as if it didn’t matter, and in the end, the other users, including me, had no choice but to get up helplessly.
… In fact, I would be lying if I said I wasn’t curious, but now was the time to separate construction.
“Just in case, what I heard in this tent today must be kept strictly confidential. “Any story.”
Han So-young did not forget the warning, emphasizing the word ‘anything.’
Before leaving the tent, I gave my brother a quick glance. When I finished talking with Han So-young, it was a signal to come to the tent where I was staying.
My brother responded with a bright smile.
*
When my brother came to the tent, it was well past dinner time, let alone lunch time.
“Ah, Suhyeon~. Brother, I’m going to die from this. Istantel Low Road, really strict… . Uh, huh? Soohyun?”
As soon as my brother came in, he stretched as hard as he could and made a groaning sound, but I immediately grabbed his shoulders and forced him to sit on the chair. My brother looks at me with a very embarrassed face.
“I thought I was going to die of exhaustion from waiting. Now tell me. “Go ahead and tell me.”
As I spoke softly, my older brother slumped his shoulders and looked extremely pitiful.
“… My dear younger brother. Brother, can’t you just rest for a bit? A little while ago, I was tormented to the point of death by Istantel Low Lord.”
“Okay, tell me. “We can take a break while talking.”
“please… . “Please consider my position of having to say the same thing twice.”
“So you’re not going to tell me? “Are you sure you’re not going to do it?”
I said while glaring at my brother. The next prepared words are ‘Okay. Then, do whatever you want.’ The tone is very pointed.
My brother must have sensed this and hung his head with a resigned look on his face. Then, he picked up the drink placed on the table, took a gulp, and let out a deep sigh.
“Tsk… . I can’t help it if you come out like that. “Yeah, why are you so curious about radish?”
“Of course I’m curious about everything. What on earth happened while we were raiding? Lee Hyo-eul, what did she do again?”
“Oh, come to think of it, Lee Hyo-eul asked me to pass it on to you. It’s not my fault, so don’t criticize me! Called.”
“… … .”
… For some reason, it felt like Lee Hyo-eul’s voice was automatically playing in my head, so I kept my mouth shut for a moment.
Eventually, my older brother smiled bitterly once, slowly caressed his chin, nodded, and put his head down.
“Well, okay. Anyway, I was planning to talk to you separately. … “But there is one condition.”
“condition? “Watch your mouth?”
“no. I guess it doesn’t matter. It will be revealed sooner or later anyway. I just hope you don’t interrupt me while I’m talking. “Like anyone.”
“… huh?”
I blinked three or four times, thinking that this was quite an unusual condition. Then his older brother continued to rub his chin (his chin must have been sore from talking so much), and suddenly his body trembled with a look of disgust on his face. Although it was only a short time, I suddenly felt sorry for my brother.
“… Was it that bad?”
“uh. It was very, very bad. Every time I say two or three sentences, people ask me questions… . I’m at a loss for words. “Is he really like that?”
My brother placed emphasis upon emphasis.
Then he suddenly looked at me and cleared his throat once or twice.
“Hmm. anyway… . Promise me just one thing and I’ll tell you right away. “Everything from the beginning, just as you want.”
What I’m saying is, just be quiet and listen… . If you have any questions, you can just ask them after the show is over.
Thinking that way, I verbally promised not to intervene, and only then did my brother begin to tell me one by one what had happened. I quietly listened to my brother.
The beginning of the story was a basic content about the structure of the northern continent.
The Northern Continent can be divided into a total of five regions.
Central, Eastern, Western, Southern, Northern.
And three years ago, when I had just started my second round.
At that time, the West and the North had friendly relations based on the central Golden Lion Clan, and the East and the South, which were in conflict with them, also formed an implicit friendly relationship with each other… . No, wait a minute.
“brother. I know this too… .”
“You promised, right?”
… shit.
Anyway, then one day.
An incident that could cause a major tectonic shift occurred in the Northern Continent, which was in subtle, or rather overt, conflict with each other.
It was the first attack on the Steel Mountains.
The Golden Lion, who led the first attack on the Steel Mountains, organized an expedition force focused on the western and northern regions that had friendly relations with them. During the programming process, the eastern and southern regions were intentionally excluded.
However, the strategy ended so disastrously that it seemed like failure was an understatement.
Of the 10 participants, 7 participated, and as a result, all of them died.
The size of the expedition when it first set out was over 5,000 people, but less than 10% survived.
The 4,700 elite users (2nd to 6th years) who were responsible for the actual power of the Northern Continent were massacred in a single attack.
There were even cases where the clan itself was completely exterminated.
The damage at that time was so enormous that it was said that ‘the level of the North Continent has regressed by several years.’
Although they barely made it back alive, those who remained had to face the storm afterward.
Starting from the fact that the clans that dominated each division were unable to withstand and collapsed one by one, the scale of power began to slowly tilt. Before and after the capture of the Steel Mountains, the positions of the center, west, north, east, and south began to reverse.
However, the ordeal did not end there.
Before the wounds had even healed, a large allied force made up of the Western Continent and vagabonds invaded the Northern Continent.
Starting with the surprise attack on the small northern city of Mule, western cities such as Halo, Beth, and Dorothy were completely occupied. In the past, even Barbara had to suffer the humiliation of being taken over. To make matters worse, it’s literally like adding insult to injury.
In the end, they managed to repel it, but the Northern Continent had to make another unintended sacrifice.
It was obvious that this incident made things more difficult for the West and North. The city was already reeling, but it suffered an additional blow that completely destroyed the city.
Can we say that the North, where only one city was destroyed, is noble, rather than the West, where entire cities were destroyed?
Of course, Dongbu also made great sacrifices to recapture Barbara, but the situation is different from the previous two departments. At least their foundation was sound.
In addition, we cannot ignore the reputation of defeating the main force of the Western Continent and the acquisition of symbolism that appeals to users by recovering Barbara, the symbol of the Northern Continent.
The southern part was responsible for reclaiming the almost empty western city to begin with, so there was little damage.
As the situation in each department unfolded in various ways, an additional two years passed.
After the central management organization was launched, Lee Hyo-eul focused on just one thing for nearly two years. By treating the accumulated damage to the northern continent and raising the level of deterioration to its previous level.
To put it bluntly, the plan could be considered a success to some extent.
After the war, a baby boom occurred with an explosion of new users, and recovery work was actively carried out with the support of the central management organization. New strong players also began to appear one after another.
Such a circulation process naturally healed the wounds suffered by the Northern Continent, and at some point made it more powerful than before.
Not really.
In a good way, it ended there.
When looking at the entire northern continent, it can be said that the intended goal has definitely been achieved.
However, if you think about it separately, rather than as a whole, there were no problems at all.
The problem was none other than the balance of power held by each department.
If you really look at it calmly, it was something that could not be helped.
No matter how hard Lee Hyo-eul tried to run the central management organization rationally, as long as each department’s starting line is different, differences are inevitable. If the West and North spent two years rebuilding the city and allowing new users to settle in, the East and South used the time to strengthen their original power.
So, if given a few more years, would the West and North one day have been able to regain their former prowess?
No, that wasn’t it.
In order for a city to develop, it essentially needs resources that can build performance, such as stabilization through hunting or excavation of ruins.
However, the resources of the Northern Continent are by no means infinite. There are clearly certain limits or limitations, and it is difficult to expect further development in cities where resources are depleted. (I was a little stricken when I heard this.)
Not long ago, the northern continent was in a similar state. The number of users is increasing by the minute, but resources are drying up.
Once a kind of saturation point has been reached, the city will not develop no matter how much time is spent.
Even if you do your best, it will only maintain the status quo or worsen the entrenchment.
In the end, there was only one way left.
It’s about pioneering a new continent.
That’s why Lee Hyo-eul adjusted the timing and declared the second plan to attack the Steel Mountains.
Conquering the Steel Mountains that users, clans, and even the North Continent have been waiting for.
However, just because they had been waiting, of course, did not mean that everyone could participate.
The central management organization set three conditions for participation in the Steel Mountains raid.
1. Years 0 and 1 cannot participate.
2. Selection by clan.
3. Creation of expedition corps for each region: East, West, South, and North.
The first and second conditions were already implemented during the first attack, and the third was a new condition that was supplemented based on the failure at that time.
In fact, except for a few large clans whose selection was almost confirmed, other small and medium-sized clans were moving quickly in advance. The issue of targeting the Steel Mountains had already been an open secret for several months, and as a result, clans wanting to participate were opening their doors wide and gathering users early on.
Because although they said they would select by clan, that did not mean that all clans would be selected.
It was here that the relationship between clans and users began to take a strange turn.
Of course, there were quite a few users who wanted to participate in the Steel Mountains raid, and to participate, you must belong to a clan.
As a number of clans were created in an effort to gather users, all that was necessary was for users to respond to the ones they felt had the highest potential.
However, users are not stupid.
I want to participate in the raid on the Steel Mountains, but my priority is my own safety. That is, life. The rosy future that is given upon successful attack is a privilege that is given only to those who are alive.
It was not an easy thing to think about.
The notoriety of the Steel Mountains was such that even the mountains where the vicious dragon sleeps gave up on several of them. What was the result of the first expedition led by the Golden Lion, which consisted of only the elites at the time?
I want to participate in the raid on the Steel Mountains.
But my life is precious.
What decision did the user make when weighing these two propositions?
Simple.
Since he had decided to participate rather than give up, he would have found the clan that could best protect his safety and knocked on its door first. And those clans were concentrated in the east and south, not the west and north.
From this point onwards.
So, from the time the third condition was revealed, the situation in the North began to become quite ambiguous.
“There are many criteria when users evaluate a clan.”
Is it because we talked for a long time?
My brother pauses for a moment and drinks the rest of his drink. And he continues his words right away.
“Which famous users are there, what is their funding and support, what is their performance, what is their clan rank, etc… .”
If we define ‘reputation’ along with all the criteria, there were no clans with a high reputation in the North that could attract users.
It was definitely as my brother said.
There are many traditional clans scattered in the east, including the Goryeo clan. They made full use of the reputation and symbolism gained in the war to steadily recruit users, and the Goryeo clan implicitly emerged as the loser of the East.
The South is also no different. While going through the various incidents that my brother listed above, the region that conserved power the best was the South.
It steadily expanded and grew in power just like in the east, and in the process, a clan called Istantel Row (although I helped it a bit) began to rise to prominence.
Is that all? Our Mercenary Clan also achieved S rank for the first time in the clan’s history by sweeping all kinds of ruins, and even attacked the dragon-sleeping mountain range that was considered impregnable.
“But what about the North?”
I remained silent in response to my brother’s sudden question. Because I couldn’t think of anything special to show off in the North.
As if he knew that would happen, my brother continued speaking immediately.
As I said, the North ended up in a fairly ambiguous situation. Wouldn’t it be better to feel relieved if, like in the West, we were judged to be out of power in the first place? However, since it was not completely ruined like in the West, it was able to recover relatively quickly.
However, it is only at a ‘relative’ level.
It did not boast a large user base like Dongbu, which has a long tradition.
There was no clan with a stellar reputation like the South, or with the majority of the top 10 belonging to it.
The newly appointed representative clans after the war have no track record or reputation. They were just busy maintaining the status quo.
In the past, there were many prestigious clans in the north, such as Buknuk, Stella, and Myulhwarang. However, it is nothing more than a past glory, a remnant of a now faded memory.
Even if the Northern Expedition was somehow formed, there was no guarantee that it would be better than the first expedition three years ago.
In any case, as the demand was sufficient, they may have attempted to raise the level by recruiting external users, but considering that they have already filtered out the eastern and southern regions once, it is difficult to expect a large increase.
In a word, the North is better than the West, but worse than the East or South, so is it just at the cutoff point for forming an expedition team?
However, it was impossible not to participate at all. Aside from the feeling of regret, it was because there was no legitimate cause like in the West.
Moreover, if they backed down from here, it was obvious that the North would fall down the road in the future. There is no reason for users to remain in areas where development potential has disappeared.
In this way, the North fell into a huge dilemma, unable to do either this or that.
Unless the representative clan was obtained by singling out, the users managing the northern part would probably have been clearly aware of this situation.
In any case, even if it is an unreasonable version of Chunhyang, participation is essential if you do not intend to destroy yourself.
So I decided to participate, but inevitably problems arose in the position of commander-in-chief.
According to what my older brother heard from Gong Chan-ho, the North was engaged in a very heated argument over the position of commander-in-chief.
It’s not that we’re going to do it, it’s that we’re not going to do it.
Originally, it was standard for an ordinary city representative clan to be in charge, but there is no law that says this has to be the case.
This is true even if you only look at the Southern Expeditionary Force. Didn’t the Khan’s representative clan, the Blue Wolves, volunteer to stand in the rear and transfer authority to Istantel Row?
However, if there is one big difference between the South and the North, it is that the current situations are very different.
Han So-young was a user recognized by others and had a reputation. Even if the Blue Wolf steps down, there is a great successor in Istantel Rowe.
However, in the North, there was no user like Han So-young in the first place (I had to be angry here again, because if things were going as they were, the Beech Clan, which would have considerable influence in the North, was passing through my head by now), and no one wanted to take charge. do. Because the position of commander-in-chief was a position in which one had to assume such great responsibility.
It was a place where you could taste sweeter fruits than anyone else if you succeeded, but it was also a place where you had to be prepared for the rewards if you failed.
And, this was the background that allowed Gong Chan-ho to become commander-in-chief.
Strictly speaking, although Gong Chan-ho had some reputation, it is said that he was not high enough to be the commander-in-chief.
However, when the representative clans say, ‘I don’t like the commander-in-chief,’ and other clans say, ‘I also don’t like the commander-in-chief,’ is there anything we can do? Because he was rejected repeatedly in his turn, an offer was also made to Gong Chan-ho, who was a little further down the list of priorities.
To be honest, I don’t know what Gong Chan-ho was thinking when he accepted the offer to be the commander-in-chief.
But to put it bluntly, the current ‘commander in chief’, Gong Chan-ho, was nothing more or less than a face madam or a discardable loser.
It was around this time that a commander-in-chief was finally decided.
At that point, one additional variable was created.
The plan to attack the world of fire, planned by user Jooho, was announced.
A plan to attack the world of fire.
That plan was the best variable that could save the Northern Expeditionary Force from its dilemma. The reason was simple. At least you will be able to pass through the areas where the fire attack plan has been implemented much more safely. For a northern expeditionary force of a relatively different level, it was a similar plan.
however.
The movements in the east that followed the announcement of the plan immediately dashed the hopes of the north. Jo Seong-ho took away the opportunity to be the first to attack the Eastern Expedition, citing the justification that it was the first force. For the North, it was an absurd situation that would have made them run away from home.
There is a clear difference in the level of expedition corps in the east and north. Of course, there was no set law as to who had to go first, but the North wanted to be the first to go in for moral reasons.
In that case, the eastern part showed coy behavior even though it possessed enormous military power.
It would have been at least understandable if the eastern part had advanced that much further without including the distance where the Hwa-gye attack was carried out. At least we can accept it as a position that we should do our best equally.
But the East did not do that. The distance was calculated from the first rush, and after 10 days, to be exact, at a distance of 7 days, the advance was stopped and a report was sent that the attack was completed. There was no damage or attack during the process.
In fact, the North, which was trying to do the same thing, has nothing to say, but it will be even more frustrating.
Well, I also don’t think kindly of the East, but from the North’s point of view, it must be terrible.
“… … .”
Suddenly, a thought crossed my mind that perhaps Han So-young had predicted this situation.
Objectively speaking, the actual marching distance of our southern expeditionary force was similar to that of the eastern expeditionary force, but it took an additional four days.
However, I heard later that Han So-young added quite detailed information when reporting the completion of the strategy. The corpses collected so far and the characteristics of the monsters. They even filmed and showed the battle in the pit.
At the time, I thought he was just working really hard, but now that I listen to him, I think he probably did it to avoid misunderstandings.
“Anyway, in that situation… . West and North. These two regions have coincident interests. That is why the Northwest Alliance was born.”
My brother spoke in a slightly hoarse voice, probably because he was tired from talking.
Northwest Alliance.
Only now the meaning has begun to take on a distinctly different meaning.
Coincidence of interests.
It was definitely as my brother said.
The choice to join hands with the West was the best choice the North could make under the circumstances, as it had been decided to force an attack.
The Hamill Clan is regarded as a powerful force. Also, more than anything else, the presence of an older brother who could perform the role of commander better than anyone else must have been felt as a welcome rain in a drought from the Northern perspective. So he made an attractive offer: if they would help them with their strategy, he would share in future privileges.
The same was true in the West.
Anyway, the assault on the Steel Mountains has been successful so far. And the West, which did not participate in the official attack in the first place and just watched, must have had some regrets of its own.
I would have taken on a support mission anyway, so there is no problem in terms of justification.
On the other hand, rather than waiting for the bean paste to run out, I would have liked to eat the rice cake itself, even if it was only half. There, the northern part said that it would hand over all command authority while leaving Gong Chan-ho as the overall commander, so my older brother would have had no reason to refuse anymore.
“after. This concludes the story to some extent… .”
Soon, as I saw my brother lying down on the bed with a very tired face, I quietly fell into deep thought.
I certainly understood the meaning of the Northwest Alliance and that it was a worthy situation. It wasn’t a difficult story, just complicated interests intertwined.
“Has your curiosity been satisfied now?”
… And more than anything, I suddenly felt sorry for my brother.
A long time ago.
‘Suhyun. Are you sure you don’t want to come west?’
My brother once half-jokingly asked me to come to the West.
At that time, I ignored those words. I thought she just meant to put me on a safe expedition.
But, that wasn’t it.
My brother also wanted to attack the Steel Mountains himself as a user, so he probably needed the help of the Mercenary Clan.
—————————= Review of the work ——————– ——-=
This is the answer part of the previous meeting.
I tried to provide detailed explanations to help readers understand, but I’m worried that I put too much effort into it. Still, I tried my best, so I hope you don’t find it too frustrating and just look at it anyway.
If you have any questions or concerns after reading the content, and if you really want to hear an answer, please send me a message. I plan to use the weekend to reply to all overdue messages, so I will do my best to reply.
I was planning on uploading it at midnight today, but I fell asleep during the review. We will check the comments tomorrow morning. I hope all readers have a restful night.
fantasy,
