Dark Warlock in the Apocalypse

As the heavy topic everyone had been avoiding was finally brought up, the expressions of the people grew somber.

Zachary, noticing the mood, spoke again with determination.

"The only way to eliminate this fundamental discrimination is for everyone to work toward becoming pioneers. I'm sure many of you have realized a lot today. If you wish to level up, come to me. I'll help you as much as I can."

His confident voice made it clear that he believed the situation had reached a critical point, especially after Justin's speech and Aaron's behavior.

He intended to abandon his previous lukewarm approach and take a more active stance.

"...."

"...."

But the response from the people was still lukewarm.

Far from agreeing, they deliberately looked away, avoiding his gaze.

The awkward silence that followed left Zachary and his faction of pioneers visibly perplexed.

"You... You must still be in shock. Take a good rest today, and come to me starting tomorrow."

He tried to add to his words, clearly not expecting such a reaction, but it seemed unlikely that much would change by tomorrow.

Aaron turned sharply on his heel and left with his faction.

Justin, seeing no reason to stay any longer, also decided to head home with his companions.

With the departure of Justin and Aaron serving as a catalyst, the rest of the people gradually began to disperse as well.

It was Nox who approached the dejected-looking Zachary.

"Congratulations on being elected as the leader. If you have any questions about governing the estate, feel free to ask me anytime."

"...I understand."

Hearing the reluctant voice behind him, Justin smirked.

Zachary must have been baffled by how things were unfolding differently from what he had imagined.

But in Justin's view, this was just the beginning.

He wondered how long Zachary could hold out.

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"Take this!"

Thud!

"Oof!"

With Derek's shout, his mace struck the gnoll's chest, shattering it.

The gnoll fell backward, convulsed a few times, and then went limp.

Justin clapped his hands as he saw the caved-in chest of the gnoll.

"Not bad. At first, you couldn't take them down unless you aimed for the head."

"Oh, come on. That was so long ago. I should be able to do this much by now."

Swish! Thunk!

An arrow whizzed past Derek and Justin, piercing the head of a gnoll charging at them.

It struck perfectly through the eye socket, bypassing the hard skull.

The gnoll collapsed instantly, unable to even let out a death cry.

"Our levels have increased quite a bit in the past week. We're also much more used to fighting now," Nathan remarked.

"The problem is that we can't seem to get past level 19 to level 20!" Ethan exclaimed, slicing his sword to the left.

The blade cut through the gnoll's hide, nearly severing its neck.

As blood splattered on the sword, Ethan swung it to shake off the blood.

"I guess there's no choice but to keep grinding, just like we did with the hobgoblins."

"Should we change hunting grounds soon? We're pretty familiar with the gnoll territory by now," Nathan suggested.

"No, that's too risky," Justin interjected, stopping Nathan's confident voice.

"For safety, it's best if at least three of us reach level 20 first. When we came to the gnoll territory, there were three of us at level 10, and it was still tough."

"Still, if you're with us, we could probably manage, right?" Nathan argued.

"That only increases the chances of survival. If I handle everything, you get less experience, which means you might end up gaining less than if we continued hunting here," Justin explained.

If the decrease in experience outweighed the increased hunting speed, it would be counterproductive.

If they faced unexpectedly strong enemies in unfamiliar territory and struggled to hunt, it might be more efficient to continue sweeping through the gnolls as they were doing now.

Everyone nodded in agreement, accepting Justin's reasoning.

"By the way, that Zachary fellow—he hasn't changed anything since being elected leader," Ethan noted.

"He said he wouldn't change anything from the start, but it's already been a week."

Zachary had strictly adhered to his initial promise after being elected as leader.

He didn't touch anything or use any of his authority.

He simply maintained the previous order, just as it had been.

But in Justin's view, even maintaining the status quo was like a ticking time bomb.

"It's not that he won't change anything; it's that he can't."

"What?" Ethan asked, confused.

"He said from the beginning that he wanted to show everyone the benefits of money and turn them into pioneers. To do that, the most efficient way would be to collect taxes from us," Justin explained.

Collect taxes from the pioneers, and distribute the mana stones collected to the settlers.

And if a settler, having experienced the value of money, wanted to become a pioneer, they could purchase equipment and lend it to them.

If they succeeded even once, they'd realize that hunting could earn them far more than labor quests, and they'd put in the effort.

It was a rough approach, but it was the fastest and most effective.

"But if he did that, the other pioneers wouldn't just sit back. Zachary knows that too, so he's barely managing to maintain the status quo."

Using authority to threaten compliance might be easy, but the problem was that the accumulated resentment could explode at any moment.

Ultimately, the pioneers were still the ones with the most power.

If that resentment were suppressed and then erupted in the worst situation, it would be uncontrollable.

"Of course, there's also the method of suppressing everyone like a tyrant and pushing through with his plans, but it doesn't seem like Zachary has the personality for that."

If he could have done that, he wouldn't have spoken of such idealistic plans in the first place.

Regardless, this was not a situation Zachary could solve on his own.

Whether he had the authority of a leader or not, he needed the settlers' active cooperation to improve the situation.

And unfortunately for Zachary, the settlers hadn't changed either.

"Is there still no one willing to become a pioneer?" Justin asked.

"There were one or two, but their families talked them out of it," Derek replied.

"Other than that, nothing. They just take the mana stones we give them," Ethan added.

"They don't even bother with the new labor quests, so that says it all."

Justin had expected this.

It seemed that even within Zachary's faction, there was growing skepticism.

They thought it would be better to use the mana stones themselves rather than waste them like this.

Even Aaron's faction had begun mocking Zachary lately, so that said enough.

"Well, at least it's fortunate that the pioneers haven't started fighting amongst themselves after the leader was chosen. That's Zachary's only achievement."

"Why? Because of the future war?" Nathan asked.

"Yeah. With an unknown enemy out there, they have no choice but to unite."

"About that, are we really sure there's another safe zone nearby? No matter how much we look around, we can't find anything," Nathan continued.

"There is. I'm sure of it."

World Breaker was ultimately a game aimed at creating a nation.

It wouldn't allow them to continue living as small communities forever.

Whether by mutual agreement or forced merger, they'd be made to expand.

"Once you all reach level 20, I was planning to look around. While searching for new hunting grounds for level 20s, we might also find another safe zone..."

-"Damn it! What the hell is this!?"

-"Die already, you bastards!"

Hearing the distant shouts and curses, they all froze.

The sound was coming from the exact opposite direction of their safe zone.

If it were another faction from the safe zone, they wouldn't have missed encountering Justin's group.

If the screams were coming from beyond their position, there was only one answer:

It meant someone had come to the gnoll territory from a safe zone located on the opposite side.

Justin stood up abruptly and said,

"Everyone, grab your weapons. We're going right now."