Transmigrated into the Gacha Game I Abandoned for 10 Years

The Absolute Ruler of Darkness, listening to Loriel’s words, looked surprised and then spoke.

“What do you mean-”

“It’s true, Master. If you go and ask directly, he’ll do it.”

Rin looked at Loriel with confusion for a moment, her eyes reflecting the firmness in Loriel’s, before she finally spoke.

“Where did you even get such information-”

“From the Lord, of course.”

“From him!?”

Rin’s expression grew even more confused, and realizing her explanation was insufficient, Loriel cleared her throat and calmly began explaining the events from last time.

After hearing Loriel’s explanation, Rin-

“Yes.”

As Loriel nodded, Rin remained silent, seemingly deep in thought, before speaking again.

“Loriel.”

“Yes, Master.”

“I know you care for me, as I’ve said before.”

“……”

“But I’d rather you not go that far.”

A simple statement with nothing further explained.

Yet Loriel easily understood what she meant and lowered her head.

“…I didn’t think things through, Master.”

“No, it’s my fault for worrying you by showing such a poor side of myself.”n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Rin smiled bitterly.

Looking at her, Loriel thought how Rin was usually so composed, yet she changed so much when it came to the Lord of Lartania. Then, she asked.

“So, what will you do?”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m asking if you’ll confront the Lord with your feelings.”

At Loriel’s words, Rin fell silent, thinking back to the brief moment she saw Merilda earlier that afternoon.

More specifically, she recalled their conversation.

…Though to be honest, it hadn’t been much of a conversation.

[You sly little wildcat-!]

That one sentence she had growled through clenched teeth when Merilda had sauntered into the Round Table.

[I just told the Master how I felt.]

Merilda had responded with a casual yet overwhelmingly happy smile.

And then-

[Oh, and by the way, the Master’s… It’s bigger than you said.]

[…!?]

[It seems the Master wasn’t giving his all when he was with you.]

As expected, with that additional information and the remark that scratched at her insides, Rin had completely crumbled.

‘…That wildcat…!’

As soon as Rin recalled that moment, she gritted her teeth again.

It was hard to believe that the same woman who, just a few months ago, had stood with her watching Kim Hyunwoo from afar, had now been in his arms before her. 𝐫Å𐌽ồ₿ЁS̩

“Ugh-”

The more she thought about it, the more it felt like tears of blood might flow. Rin forced herself to hold back the emotions welling up, taking long, deep breaths to calm herself.

“You asked what I will do?”

“Yes.”

“There is only one path left, of course.”

Soon, Rin,

“I’ll tell him how I truly feel. At this point, that’s the only path left.”

with her eyes wide open, she began preparing to confess her true feelings.

“…Loriel.”

“Yes, Master.”

“Could you…possibly prepare…that and…that?”

“It’ll be difficult right away, but if you give me a day or two, I can manage.”

“Then, can you make sure it’s ready?”

“If it’s your will, I’ll make the impossible happen.”

“Thank you.”

They began making somewhat…excessive preparations.

‘He wasn’t giving his all when he was with me?! We’ll see about that…!’

With teeth gritting.

Another day passed.

Kim Hyunwoo gazed at the steadily piling resources Sasha had sent as payment for resolving the coup in the Calan Kingdom, a blissful smile spreading across his face.

‘This is unreal.’

The sheer quantity of materials delivered by the dwarves was enough to leave Kim Hyunwoo slack-jawed.

If he were to pile up the materials from the Calan Kingdom, it would form a mountain comparable in size to the Magical Engineering Research Institute.

Looking at the resources with satisfaction, Kim Hyunwoo immediately opened the territory window and began upgrading all the buildings he had planned in advance.

Territory: Lartania

Territory Development Level:

5855

Territory Residents:

[Humans: 49,244]

[Beastfolk: 1,082]

–Secondary Buildings–

[Magical Engineering Research Institute]

–Subordinate Buildings–

▪︎ [Magical Engineering Power Plant ↑]

▪︎ [Magical Engineering Weapons Research Institute ↑]

▪︎ [Magical Engineering Refinery (Under Construction 88%)]

–Owned Buildings–

[Lord’s Castle LV4 (Under Construction 99%)]

[Outer Walls LV5]

[Residential District LV5 >>> Upgrading 0%]

[Blacksmith LV5 >>> Upgrading 0%]

[Barracks LV5 >>> Upgrading 0%]

[Tavern LV5 >>> Upgrading 0%]

[Marketplace LV5]

[Wood Processing Plant LV5 >>> Upgrading 0%]

[Restaurant LV5]

[Leather Processing Plant LV5 >>> Upgrading 0%]

[Stone Processing Plant LV5 >>> Upgrading 0%]

[Trade Center LV5 >>> Upgrading 0%]

[Secondary Walls LV5]

[Inn LV5 >>> Upgrading 0%]

[Administrative District LV5 >>> Upgrading 0%]

[Paved Roads LV5]

[Tertiary Walls (Under Construction 0%)]

–External Buildings–

[Mercenary Guild LV1]

[Mage Tower Branch LV1]

[Blacksmith Guild Branch LV1]

–Owned Forces–

• Regular Soldiers: 1,000

• Swordsmen: 500

• Guards: 700

• Apprentice Knights: 200

• Beastfolk: 1,082

“Wow…”

Seeing more than half of the territory window filled with upgrades in progress, and realizing that there were still plenty of resources left even after initiating all those upgrades, Kim Hyunwoo smiled.

‘Is this the power of a kingdom…?’

More accurately, Sasha had likely confiscated all the resources from the territory that had attempted the coup, but that detail didn’t matter much to Kim Hyunwoo, who silently praised Sasha.

‘Normally, the resource consumption skyrockets from Level 5 onward, but there’s still so much left. Just how much did she send me?’

After a brief calculation, Kim Hyunwoo realized that with the resources Sasha had provided, he could potentially upgrade almost all the buildings to Level 7, given enough time. Inside, he was silently cheering with joy.

A little while later…

After upgrading every building he could think of, Kim Hyunwoo recalled what River had said earlier. He began heading towards the Blacksmith Guild but paused as he passed the newly built structures beside the Magical Engineering Research Institute.

‘…It feels out of place.’

As he walked towards the Blacksmith Guild, Kim Hyunwoo noticed the Magical Engineering Weapons Research Institute and the Magical Engineering Refinery built in front of the Magical Engineering Research Center.

The two buildings, completed just yesterday, looked strikingly similar to modern factories, which left an impression on Kim Hyunwoo. Shrugging, he continued toward the Blacksmith Guild.

Not long after, Kim Hyunwoo arrived at the Blacksmith Guild, where he saw River and Shadra.

He saw them, but…

“River?”

“Oh, oh! You’re here!?”

Kim Hyunwoo asked, slightly bewildered, seeing River standing there somewhat awkwardly.

…To be precise, River was wearing a very flowy dress.

“Well, I’m here…but your outfit today is…a bit unusual?”

“Unusual!? Does it look weird?!”

River seemed a bit flustered, so Kim Hyunwoo shook his head as he replied.

“No, it’s not weird. It’s just that you usually wear your regular clothes. Didn’t you say before that everything else feels uncomfortable?”

“Ah, yeah~ I did say that, but I thought I’d try this for a little change of pace.”

As she glanced away and said this, Kim Hyunwoo stared blankly for a moment, thinking to himself.

‘Could it be… River too?’

For a brief moment, Kim Hyunwoo entertained the thought but quickly shook his head.

‘No, don’t get ahead of yourself. Thinking River might like me too…that’s just too weird. She’s way more obsessed with blacksmithing than she is with me…’

With all these ridiculous situations lately, he was starting to feel like he was developing a sort of delusion of grandeur. Shaking off the thought, Kim Hyunwoo spoke.

“As a change of pace, it works. It suits you.”

“Really…?”

“Yeah.”

At his response, River let out a small giggle before exclaiming “Ah!” and spoke again.

“Come here! This is the finished product!”

With those words, River pointed to a spot.

“That?”

As Kim Hyunwoo looked in the direction she was pointing, he saw a missile slightly larger than the one she had shown him before.

“Yeah! If you want, we can launch it right now!”

“So, that will strike the Eastern Clan Alliance directly?”

“That’s right. It’ll probably turn them to dust.”

Without hesitation, Kim Hyunwoo replied to River.

“Then let’s launch it right away.”