“Was there no interference from the Empire?”

“On the contrary, the Empire enthusiastically supported Ruta Garos’s decision. It was exactly the kind of outcome they desired.”

This world was so vast that Earth felt like a mere island in comparison.

Yet, the land where humans could actually survive was scarce.

That was why the Empire granted players the qualification to pioneer new territories.

The goal was to expand the Empire’s territory under the initiative of players.

The Herseba Desert was an enormous expanse spanning the entire southern continent.

I suspected that countless ruins lay hidden within its sands.

Furthermore, it was rich in quartz sand suitable for glassmaking, indicating that the economic potential lying dormant within the Herseba Desert was immense.

Trivik could serve as a forward base to conquer the Herseba Desert.

Therefore, the Empire did not care who did it, as long as that person could develop Trivik.

“With the Empire’s backing secured, the exiles were carried out by force. They drove everyone out into the desert and kept them under surveillance to ensure they couldn’t escape.”

Those who had met the benchmark allegedly supported this decision actively.

They had shed blood and sweat to build the city, and they couldn’t allow free riders who had contributed nothing to reap the benefits.

The majority of the exiles were ordinary citizens lacking both the will and the ability to work.

Those who had spent one year in Trivik had to spend one year in the desert.

Those who had spent five years had to endure five years in the desert.

A significant number fell victim to the desert’s erratic weather, and only those who adapted survived.

Their descendants were exactly…

the desert nomads visible before me now.

Whooosh-!

As the carriage picked up speed, a cold, dry wind swept through.

The old coachman, bundled tightly in his clothes, offered some warm advice.

“The weather is freezing. It would be best to close the window now.”

That signaled the end of our conversation.

The coachman focused his attention on handling the four horses galloping at full speed.

“That was a fascinating tale. I will certainly pay you for the story.”

“I am glad you found it interesting.”

I expressed my gratitude to the coachman.

After all, I had heard a valuable story that I couldn’t have heard anywhere else.

Rattle-!

As I closed the window, the howling wind vanished.

Only the rhythmic clatter of hooves and the rumbling of the carriage remained.

Having heard the secret history of the city, I fell into deep thought.

How the city of Trivik came to be wasn’t particularly important to me.

It was nothing more than a way to pass the time while the road was blocked.

My focus was on a different aspect.

Through Trivik’s example, I felt I could understand how the Empire operated.

The Empire’s operational policy centered around expanding its territory.

It granted qualifications to individuals, inducing them to carry out independent conquests.

It didn’t matter who that individual was.

Even in Trivik’s case, though the rightful commander had vanished, the Empire did not intervene as long as someone else could take over the role.

Whether they could conquer the Herseba Desert was all that mattered.

Who led Trivik was not a factor for consideration.

Of course, not just anyone could accomplish this.

The Empire’s territory was continuously expanding even now.

This meant it was impossible for the Empire to unify and monitor every chain of command at a national level.

That was why they had strengthened the rights of players.

As long as the chain of command was maintained, internal chaos within the Empire could be prevented.

Players served as middle managers who controlled the people, acting as bridgeheads to pioneer unknown territories.

By granting powerful authorities to players, the system was designed so that the Empire could manage itself without exerting direct force.

The Empire’s role was simply to protect the Players’ rights.

They dispatched Adjudicators to monitor and prevent any insubordination against the players.

No matter how much power a player amassed, they were powerless before the Empire’s might, so there was no need for unnecessary concern.

No individual could defeat a nation.

In the end, players were inevitably subordinated to the Empire.

Still, they couldn’t just grant power to anyone.

Thus, the Empire prepared two filtering systems.

The first filter was the player qualification, which cost a staggering 500 gold.

This massive barrier to entry served as the primary filter for talent.

To obtain a Player’s qualification, one had to either possess talent as a champion or have immense wealth—meeting at least one of these two conditions was required.

While you could buy gold with Gold Coins, you couldn’t buy Gold Coins with gold.

A champion talented in the battlefield could earn 500 gold through their own abilities to obtain the player qualification.

But those without talent ultimately had to purchase the qualification with money.

At an abysmal exchange rate of 1 gold per Gold Coin.

This meant that every time a new player was created, a whopping 500 Gold Coins flowed into the national treasury.

Considering how many players existed across the entire Empire, it was clear the revenue generated from selling these qualifications was astronomical.

However, there was one problem.

Purchasing a Player’s qualification with Gold Coins was essentially buying and selling offices.

It meant that unqualified individuals could become players.

Handing over power blindly to such people was a risky prospect.

So, the Empire prepared a second filter.

That was the player Tier system.

Players acted as commanders directing the people.

But they couldn’t grant the same level of power to every player.

People had different capabilities, and power had to be distributed accordingly.

Therefore, they secondarily filtered talent through a system called ‘Ranked Matches’.

Those who had talent as a champion but lacked talent as a player.

Those who bought their qualification with money but lacked the actual ability to match it.

The Ranked Match was the filtering device to weed out such hollow shells.

The vast majority of players in the Empire remained in the Bronze Tier.

However, Bronze Tier players were not granted any significant authority.

The privileges of commanding troops, managing cities, and communicating with the Empire were reserved exclusively for Silver Tier players and above.

In short, to gain any real power, one had to reach at least the Silver Tier.

Those who failed to pass this filter were players in name only.

‘So that’s why society functions normally.’

As long as the focus remained on guaranteeing the Players’ authority, the Empire was intricately designed to keep running.

Primarily, the existence of champions played a major role in maintaining public order.

In a world where mana existed, an individual’s combat power could grow indefinitely.

From the Empire’s perspective, these individuals were walking hazards.

Unchecked military power became a massive obstacle to running a nation.

Thus, they slipped an unbreakable leash around their necks through the concept of the ‘Battlefield’.

Everyone inevitably hits a wall during their growth process.

Who could resist when a way to break through that wall was right before their eyes?

Using the ‘gold’ earned in the battlefield made one stronger with ease.

This fact drove them toward the battlefield.

They dressed uncontrolled violence with the name ‘Champion’.

This was where the Empire’s grand design began.

The battlefield had many restrictions.

Fixed mana, fixed health, fixed targets, fixed range, fixed movement distance.

Humans are creatures of adaptation.

Becoming accustomed to the battlefield ultimately meant becoming accustomed to these restrictions.

Individuals with uncontrolled combat power were gradually subordinated to the Empire.

It was the process of champions transforming into Imperial soldiers.

Experiencing a battlefield where they resurrected even after death, these soldiers developed a bravery that feared nothing—not even death itself.

These elite soldiers, bearing the title of champions, became the foundation that allowed the Empire to reign as the eternal victor.

Controlling these troops was not difficult either.

They divided military units under the name of ‘Synergy’ and classified their proficiency under the name of ‘Cost’.

1-Cost Shieldbearer.

This was the designation the Empire assigned to its soldiers.

The number of champions was finite.

Therefore, they had to constantly research methods to maximize efficiency with minimal troop compositions.

Players took on this role.

Through the battlefield, players could endlessly experiment with which combinations yielded the most efficiency.

By facing off against other players, they could become adept at thinking on their feet.

Through this process, players naturally became proficient at handling champions, while the champions submitted to the Players’ commands, establishing a clear hierarchy.

It started with the battlefield and ended with the battlefield.

The battlefield was, quite literally, the Empire’s Gate of Ascension.

‘The Device also plays a crucial role.’

The distribution and management of Devices, which possessed various convenient functions, were handled with extreme thoroughness at the imperial level.

Devices could not be purchased with money.

However, if one became a champion or a player, they were rented out at a near-free price.

This meant that to obtain a Device, one had to participate in the battlefield.

It was a method to forcibly subordinate even those who had no interest in the battlefield to the Empire.

Here, a question arose in my mind.

‘Who created the battlefield?’

If the battlefield were to disappear, the system they had built would crumble in an instant.

The Empire could only be sustained through the battlefield.

The Empire’s Magic Engineering technology was still in a transitional phase.

Creating a unique space like the battlefield and allowing people to grow stronger using the resources obtained there was something beyond the Empire’s capabilities.

There was one piece of evidence for this.

The ruins that might exist in the northern region of Trivik, where I was heading.

The existence of ancient battlefield remnants proved that the battlefield had existed long before the Empire was founded.

I wondered who created the first battlefield and how it had been maintained all this time.

Thinking of an entity capable of such a feat…

‘Did God create it?’

I couldn’t even be sure of that.

Didn’t the Imperial Parliament interfere with the battlefield through periodic patches?

If God actually existed, they wouldn’t be able to alter the battlefield to suit their whims like this…

‘I really don’t know.’

It was a mystery I couldn’t solve right now, nor did I need to dwell on it.

As a mere 1-Cost Shieldbearer, it was far too complex an issue for me to worry about.

***

Neigh-!

The carriage gradually slowed down.

‘Have we arrived?’

I had spent the time organizing my thoughts, and it seemed we had already reached our destination.

Once the carriage came to a complete halt, the old coachman called out.

“We have arrived.”

Rattle-!

I opened the carriage door and stepped onto the ground.

Crunch-!

I stretched my back.

Being a four-horse carriage, the ride quality was decent, but with no shock absorbers like suspension to speak of, my entire body ached.

Six hours had passed since departing from Yukantar.

Although we had been delayed by encountering the desert peddler.

I had safely arrived at Solar, in the northern region of Trivik.

“Here you go.”

“Thank you. I wish you a pleasant trip.”

I paid him a generous sum, adding the price of the story to the agreed fare.

The face of the old coachman, exhausted from driving the carriage, brightened up.

Shhhh-

‘The air is fresh.’

The air in the northern region, untouched by the desert winds, was crisp and refreshing.

Not a single cloud marred the sky, and an endless blue plain stretched out on the opposite side of the city.

The wide-open view made my mind feel just as clear.

It was a stark contrast to the complex and noisy atmosphere of Yukantar, a difference stemming from regional characteristics.

Yukantar, bordered by the desert, was difficult to pioneer, causing its residential areas to be densely concentrated in one place.

But Solar, boasting abundant resources and vast lands from the Regalavak Great Plains, had developed evenly without clustering in a single area.

‘Let’s see…’

Shrrk-

I had purchased a simple map before coming to the northern region.

My current location was the First Plains, a border area between the eastern and northern regions.

Since the First Plains was a suburban area separated from the so-called downtown district, there weren’t many people around.

However, I had a specific reason for choosing this place as my destination.