Episode 23. Built the Guardhouse
After buying materials and returning to the village, Aren immediately started working.
“Star Design!”
[Skill ‘Star Design LV. 1’ used.]
[Please select the building to simulate.]
[Village Chief’s House, Residential Wooden House, Restaurant, Clothing Store, Guardhouse.]
“Guardhouse.”
[You have selected Guardhouse.]
Miniature parts of the guardhouse floated one by one above the table.
Aren perfectly understood the guardhouse.
But he didn’t intend to copy it exactly.
‘Ordinary guardhouses are boring. If I’m making it, I want it to be my own style.’
He moved his hands and assembled the miniature.
He made the training ground wide and removed some unnecessary pillars to secure space.
‘Like this…’
[There are not enough support pillars.]
[The central pillar bears heavy load and will likely collapse within 2 months.]
“Not good? Then how about this?”
Aren added a few pillars.
[Overall balance is off.]
[Due to imbalance, the guardhouse will likely collapse within 10 months.]
The duration greatly improved, but the training ground was cramped and it was hard to secure resting space due to too many pillars.
More than anything, it looked bad.
‘It’s too cramped. More pillars aren’t always better. Then…’
“What if I change the wood material?”
[Susceptible to moisture.]
[In heavy rain, insects will breed and the building will likely collapse within 12 months.]
Aren kept changing the wood type and structure to find the best design.
After some time,
[5-Minute Response Guardhouse Miniature completed.]
[Experience with Star Hands and Star Design skills increased.]
[Job experience gained.]
[Received 5-Minute Response Guardhouse Miniature.]
“Phew… Done.”
Success.
Aren wiped sweat from his forehead and looked at the miniature with a satisfied smile.
It looked well made.
“Are you finished?”
“Alfredo.”
“Water.”
“Thanks.”
Aren drank the water Alfredo gave him.
Fresh well water flowed coolly down his throat, relieving his fatigue.
“Refreshing!”
“But really, are you done?”
“Yes.”
“Took long this time? Was it hard?”
“A bit. The guardhouse wasn’t easy. Many things to consider: training ground, lounge, prison.”
‘Definitely different from clothing store or restaurant.’
He went through dozens of trial and error steps.
He changed structural materials to red cedar and girders to fir to balance it perfectly.
“If it’s that complicated, you could’ve just used the existing guardhouse structure.”
That question was on the tip of his tongue.
Aren glanced at Alfredo and roughly guessed his thoughts.
Sometimes, Kim Minsoo looked at him like that too.
Aren’s answer was always the same.
“Why? That’d be boring.”
“Boring…?”
Alfredo blinked and replied.
“Truly worthy of a village chief. Unintelligible to ordinary people…”
“Don’t change the subject.”
“No, I mean respect. Haha…”
Alfredo looked baffled at Arlen’s words.
Aren shrugged as if used to it.
“It’s easy and convenient to copy, but where’s the fun in that?”
Copying isn’t fun.
No matter how hard or painful, nothing beats creating yourself.
The thrill of making buildings and furniture with your own style is incomparable.
‘Well, it’s not zero-based, but there’s a saying that imitation is the mother of creation.’
“Now that the miniature is done, let’s start building before my village turns worse.”
“Understood.”
Thump thump.
Aren shouldered thick timber and took position.
Following the guidelines, he erected wood one by one, forming the guardhouse frame.
“Alfredo, hold it tightly! No twisting allowed.”
“Yes!”
Bang bang!
Nails were driven firmly, and pillars anchored deep into the ground.
Aren stepped back, examining the frame, nodding satisfied.
The guardhouse frame took shape slowly.
“This structure looks unusual.”
“What do you mean?”
“In the guardhouse we saw, the lounge wasn’t this wide, but here it is.”
“The lounge should be wide. Guards need a comfortable place to rest after training.”
“And there’s a new place I didn’t see there… what’s that?”
“A shower room. I added it for balance after many trials.”
Aren’s guardhouse had many differences from the one he saw originally.
He made the lounge large and even added a shower room.
The guards worked to protect village security.
He wanted them to have a comfortable place to rest and wash up after their work.
‘And I made the prison small.’
The prison should be uncomfortable and a place nobody wants to visit.
That would discourage crimes.
“Let’s move on to the next task.”
“Already? Can’t we rest a bit more?”
“Once started, we must finish. Let’s go.”
Reluctantly, Alfredo stood and moved wood.
After foundation work, the frame was complete.
“Good, now let’s put up walls.”
“Yes.”
Alfredo lifted wood boards with effort.
Aren fitted them in place, and solid wood gradually formed walls.
Tap! Tap! Tap!
The sound of nails made a steady rhythm.
Boards filled gaps between pillars, transforming the empty land into small rooms.
“Only the roof left to finish.”
Aren smiled as he looked at the prepared wood.
Then,
“Hello?”
A female user cautiously approached Aren, who was hard at work.
She had braided red hair and wore a red robe matching her hair color.
She clearly looked like a high-level user.
“Are you someone who works here?”
“Yes, but who are you?”
“I’m Bianca from the Red Storm Guild. Nice to meet you.”
“Yes. What brings you?”
“I saw you working here and wanted to ask something. Do you know anything about the village chief here?”
“Village chief?”
“Yes.”
“….”
Aren quickly sensed the situation.
‘She doesn’t know me?’
Understandable.
The first user to own a village in Illusion.
A user who achieved what rankers couldn’t, so others assumed a high-level user.
‘Kim Minsoo said there are many looking for me now.’
The intent was clear.
‘They want to swallow my village whole.’
They couldn’t get a village no matter how hard they tried.
Their only way was to recruit the village chief user and seize the village.
A blatant example of success stealing.
“That section chief… what was his name…?”
“What did you say? Section chief? Is he the village chief?”
“Ah, no. Just reminded me of my company section chief.”
“I see. So do you know anything about the village chief? If you work here, you must have met him.”
True, they didn’t know Aren.
Who would expect the first village owner to be covered in sawdust working hard?
‘Better play dumb.’
“I don’t know personally. When asked to build something, I just take money and build.”
“Oh, really? Do you have his ID or… You said you work for money, right? If you know something, I’ll reward you.”
“Sorry. I really don’t know. I get paid through NPC intermediaries.”
“Really? You know nothing?”
“Yes.”
Bianca’s friendly smile froze instantly as she realized Arlen really didn’t know.
“Tch, what? She really knows nothing? Well, what would a lowbie like her know?”
“…”
“Sigh… wasted my time. Where is this user hiding… Tch…”
Bianca muttered and turned away abruptly.
Watching her leave, Alfredo looked stunned.
“She judged it irrelevant and turned sharply. Her face changed immediately, it was scary, like…”
“You think she’s crazy? Like me?”
“Yes. Like a village chief…”
“…”
“…”
“Why are you silent? You said you’re always crazy, right?”
Alfredo’s complexion turned pale.
He must have heard that!
Aren thought he was too busy working to notice, but Alfredo definitely heard it.
Silence fell.
Alfredo quietly picked up a hammer and resumed nailing.
Tap! Tap!
That day, Alfredo worked harder than ever.
To survive!
The next day.
Ding!
[5-Minute Response Guardhouse construction completed.]
[You successfully built the building perfectly following guidelines.]
[Experience with Star Hands, Star Building, and Star Design skills increased.]
[Skill leveled up!]
[Star Hands LV. 2 -> Star Hands LV. 3]
[Level up!]
[Strength, Stamina +2]
[Dexterity +5]
“Finally finished.”
The clothing store and restaurant took one day each, but the guardhouse took longer.
It was not an easy job.
“Are you alive?”
“…”
“You’re dead. I’ll bury you nicely.”
“I’m alive… please don’t bury me.”
“Well done anyway.”
“Sigh… At this point, I don’t know if I’m a butler or a carpenter. How did my life come to this…”
Alfredo suddenly lamented, confused about his identity.
Leaving Alfredo behind, Aren checked the guardhouse status.
[5-Minute Response Guardhouse LV. 1]
Grade: C
Description: A guardhouse remodeled by a very skilled carpenter to make life comfortable for guards who work hard to protect the village.
A building for village security.
Guards: [None] <Available for Hire>
Guard Captain: [None] <Available for Hire>
Maintenance Cost: 60 Gold
Durability: 1,530,000 / 1,530,000
Options: Durability reinforcement.
Max number of hireable guards +5
Resident satisfaction +10%
Village security rate +10%
<Hidden option>
Village fame +10%
“This one has many options… But what’s this? Hidden option?”
“Seems to be the effect of increasing village fame.”
“Fame? What exactly does it affect?”
“Because the chief built the guardhouse earnestly, the village’s trust increased. With fame up, outsiders see it as a ‘good place to live.’”
“So…”
“Immigrants come hearing rumors. Fame is equivalent to influx.”
“…I see.”
Aren nodded.
Having houses doesn’t mean people will live there.
There must be a safe guardhouse and a good foundation for someone to settle.
‘Now I just need to bring the guard captain.’
Aren and Alfredo headed to the place Palms had told them.
In a remote corner of Lete Village, the recommended guard captain stayed.
“So you want to hire me as guard captain?”
“…Yes.”
Aren answered weakly.
Birds of a feather flock together.
He had to suspect from when Palms said it was someone he knew.
‘What’s with those muscles!?’
Could a human be that wide?
Shoulders to forearms were all muscle, and his shirt looked like a ‘muscle cover cloth.’
He smelled strongly of protein.
‘This isn’t a guard captain, he’s a muscle head captain.’
They both thought at the same time.
‘Something’s…’
‘I think I came to the wrong place.’
Something was seriously wrong.
