Episode 87: Immediate Completion
As the small wooden village flourished, Aren’s face lit up with satisfaction.
Meanwhile—
“That damned guy…”
“He’s having the time of his life, while we’re dying over here…”
The First Operations Team of The Black was on the brink of collapse.
“Team leader!! There’s a bug here!”
“What!? What do you mean, a bug!? What kind of bug!? Can we fix it!?”
“N-no! We can’t fix it!”
At Oh Kyung-tae’s words, Kim Jun-ha froze.
A bug that can’t be fixed?
In Illusion, the supercomputer Zeus maintained and updated everything in real time.
A bug appearing at all was rare—but an unfixable one? Impossible.
‘Damn it! How many incident reports will I have to file for this!?’
He hadn’t even finished paying his credit card bill for the month.
“Just show me what it is already!!”
Kyung-tae turned to him with teary eyes.
“The work never ends! It just… doesn’t finish! That’s a bug, right!? It has to be! This is a real-world bug!”
Jun-ha just stared, dumbfounded.
That was the bug he was talking about?
He wanted to yell—but instead, he held it in.
‘He’s losing it. Then again… who wouldn’t?’
Overtime, weekend shifts, and constant pressure had taken their toll.
Kyung-tae hadn’t even gone home in days. Losing his sanity seemed inevitable.
“Ugh… It’s my fault. It’s because of what I grabbed at my first birthday party…”
“Your… what?”
“Mom told me I caught a bug instead of an item.”
“A bug? So what?”
“A bug is ‘bug’ in English. I caught a bug, so now I’m bugged.”
“…You really do have a bug. In your brain.”
Jun-ha’s head throbbed.
As ridiculous as he sounded, Kyung-tae was one of the team’s best operators.
He couldn’t afford to lose him.
‘He needs rest… but that’s not an option.’
All because of Aren.
The village system wasn’t supposed to go public yet—
but Aren had discovered a hidden piece that forced the devs’ hand.
‘We were supposed to roll this out slowly. Now we’re cramming months of work into days.’
The team was burning out.
They blamed Jun-ha, but he was just as much a victim.
‘You think I approve your overtime? The CEO signed off on it himself… I’m powerless.’
He wanted to send them home—but orders were orders.
Even as team leader, he was just another corporate cog.
Watching Aren’s character on the monitor, Jun-ha prayed.
‘Please… just stop breaking the game for once.’
He wanted to go home too.
“Check complete!”
“Wow…”
The new upgrade made the old version look like trash.
HP and Mana recovery up by 1200%, boosted success rates, and new visitor chances—everything was buffed.
“These options are what really matter.”
If earth spirits came to trade, tax revenue would skyrocket.
And he needed that.
After buying his father’s old workshop, his wallet was bone-dry.
‘My poor account’s crying for food… Don’t worry, buddy. I’ll feed you soon.’
Even the tax rate had jumped from 30% to 40%.
Just 10% more—but on his scale, that was massive.
“Still… where’s Yeonhwa? We need to finalize the merchant contract soon…”
She should’ve messaged him by now.
He decided to whisper her first.
[Aren → Yeonhwa]: Yeonhwa?
[Yeonhwa → Aren]: Hello~! This is merchant Yeonhwa! I’ve got everything you need—except what’s missing! Oh—Aren!?
[Aren → Yeonhwa]: Haha, you haven’t changed.
[Yeonhwa → Aren]: Wh-why are you whispering me out of nowhere? You… need something?
[Aren → Yeonhwa]: About the merchant contract—how’s it coming along?
[Yeonhwa → Aren]: The contract? Oh… that.
[Yeonhwa → Aren]: Ah… Aren, if it’s you, then… no, never mind! Yes! The contract! Right!
“…Huh?”
Even through text, her voice carried a faint sense of disappointment.
‘What was she expecting?’
‘Did I sound too businesslike?’
He tilted his head.
[Aren → Yeonhwa]: Something wrong?
[Yeonhwa → Aren]: N-no! About the contract! I’m working on it right now! I’ll be there soon! Please wait just a bit!
[Aren → Yeonhwa]: Got it.
And that ended the chat.
Her reaction lingered in his mind.
“Something wrong, sir?”
“Oh, I was just talking to Yeonhwa. I asked about the contract, but… she sounded off.”
“Off, how?”
“Like… disappointed? I don’t know why.”
Aren rubbed his chin.
“Maybe she’s just tired from setting up her merchant guild.”
“…”
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“I’m not pitying you, sir. I’m pitying her.”
“Why?”
“No reason. Just… intuition.”
Aren blinked, but Alfredo didn’t elaborate.
“Forget it. Let’s check the new functions instead.”
“As you wish. Shall we move to another location?”
“Yeah.”
And with that, they got back to work.
Aren and Alfredo moved to another spot.
“This place should be good enough. Then…”
Aren activated the Instant Completion function.
[You have used the Instant Completion feature.]
[Please select the building you wish to construct.]
[Residential Wooden House – 150 points.]
[Clothing Store – 500 points.]
[Guard Post – 500 points.]
[Restaurant – 500 points.]
[Park…….]
“Hmm… The residential wooden house costs 150 points, and the others are all around 500?”
“Because their importance varies. A house is important, but not quite as much as the others.”
“150 points, huh…”
It was an odd number — not too little, not too much.
‘Let’s just build one for now.’
[You have selected: Residential Wooden House.]
[Please designate a location.]
A hologram of the wooden house Aren had previously built appeared.
He gestured to adjust the position, angle, and tilt of the house.
‘Let’s align it with the road…’
After fine-tuning the angle, Aren confirmed.
[Would you like to install it?]
“Yeah.”
[Installing Residential Wooden House.]
[150 points have been consumed.]
Kugung!
“Whoa…”
With a small tremor, the wooden house appeared.
[Residential Wooden House LV. 1]
Grade: D
Description: A sturdy wooden house made by a skilled carpenter.
Capacity: 0/4
Durability: 50,000 / 50,000
Options: Maintains temperature.
HP Recovery Speed +200% while resting.
Mana Recovery Speed +200 while resting.
Immigrant Arrival Rate +10%.
<Hidden Option>
Resident Dissatisfaction –20%.
It was exactly the same as the ones Aren used to build manually — identical inside and out.
‘Not bad at all.’
Now, he wouldn’t have to spend hours building houses by hand.
Building was fun, sure — but using that time elsewhere would be more profitable.
‘Since it’s 150 points each…’
He still had 4,370 village reputation points left. More than enough.
Aren used 1,350 points to build nine more wooden houses.
“Convenient.”
“Indeed.”
“By the way, will there be more functions like this later on?”
Alfredo smiled meaningfully.
“That is something you must discover for yourself, my lord. Finding such things is part of your role as village chief.”
“Fair enough.”
“You are doing well, Aren. If you continue like this, you will one day gain everything.”
“Sounds a bit dramatic.”
Aren shrugged, then began renting out the new houses to arriving settlers.
Thanks to the improved odds — or perhaps the village’s high reputation — the homes filled up quickly.
“Good. This should—”
“Aren!!”
It was Morukan, who should have been busy working at the forge.
He came running, then—
“Hey, what’s wrong!?”
“Aren! Please, save me! I’m going to die at this rate!!”
He clung to Aren’s leg.
“Morukan…”
Aren was startled.
Morukan looked far worse than before — heavy dark circles under his eyes, messy beard, and pale skin.
He’d looked better when he was homeless in the park.
“…What happened to you?”
“There’s too much work! I haven’t even had time for a single mug of beer! Please… help me!”
[Quest generated: Overworked Dwarf?]
[Overworked Dwarf?]
Grade: C
Description: The dwarf Morukan has been drowning in endless production requests.
At this rate, he might become the first dwarf to die of overwork.
Find a solution as soon as possible.
Success Condition: Resolve the issue.
Reward: EXP, Title, ???
Failure Penalty: Immigrant Arrival Rate ↓, Village Reputation –1000, ???
[Would you like to accept?]
“This is all your fault, Aren! Why is this village doing so well!?”
Aren tilted his head.
The quest had appeared, and losing 1,000 reputation points on failure wasn’t an option.
“Why didn’t you just limit your orders? Like, only a few per month.”
“Limit them?”
“Yeah. That way, you could work at your own pace.”
“Aren… you’re a genius! How did you even think of that!?”
Morukan was genuinely moved.
Aren sighed.
Still, the immediate problem was the current backlog of orders.
‘He can’t possibly handle all that alone…’
Then it hit him.
‘What if he didn’t have to work alone?’
Coincidentally, there was something useful in the Village Chief’s Shop.
If he used that, this whole issue could be solved easily.
“Morukan, I have an idea.”
“You do? What is it?”
“Tell me…”
Aren placed a hand on his shoulder, smiling faintly.
“Would you consider taking on… an apprentice?”
