As Lee Shin stared at the headquarters, another message appeared.

[Your magic power has exceeded 50. You can now summon a slave at the headquarters. Would you like to summon one?]

“Summon.”

[Summoning a slave. This will take some time.]

The slave was summoned exactly 13 seconds later.

The elderly man summoned onto the battlefield looked around, wearing an expression of disbelief.

“You too, gather magic power.”

“Huh?!”

The elderly man was startled as his body suddenly moved on its own.

The slaves who had been gathering magic power spoke one by one.

“Looks like this is his first summon.”

“Don’t panic, just work hard. Don’t cause trouble for the contractor.”

Finally, the elderly man seemed to understand the situation and quietly began gathering magic power alongside them.

‘I can make them move according to my will, regardless of their own intentions.’

That was definitely reminiscent of a game.

Lee Shin summoned more slaves and worked them hard to gather magic power whenever he gathered enough.

It was when the number of slaves reached 13 that Lee Shin thought.

‘Maybe it’s time to build something else?’

[You can order the slaves to build a structure.]

[The first building you can construct is a barracks, which requires 150 magic power.]

Once Lee Shin gathered 150 magic power, he selected one of the slaves and had them begin constructing the barracks.

As the building started to take shape, the slave suddenly moved at lightning speed, faster than Lee Shin could track.

‘What is this?!’

Lee Shin was surprised. The slave moved so fast that he could barely see them.

As the building continued to rise, Lee Shin couldn’t help but be amazed.

‘This really feels like a game.’

Despite the strange feeling of using real living humans in a game, Lee Shin couldn’t help but become more and more intrigued.

However, just as the barracks were nearing completion, a new message appeared.

[An enemy has appeared!]

‘What?’

Lee Shin quickly looked around, startled.

A black dog appeared near the entrance.

[Hellhound: A monster used in battle. It is the weakest combat monster but has extremely high speed. It can be summoned in pairs for 50 magic power.]

The black dog circled around, observing Lee Shin’s forces.

‘A scout.’

The Hellhound then exited through the entrance.

Lee Shin realized his mistake.

‘I have no combat units!’

Gremory must have also confirmed this through the Hellhound’s scouting.

If that was the case, then what next?

Lee Shin selected one of the slaves who was gathering magic power.

“Chase that dog!”

Coincidentally, it was the elderly man who had seemed so clueless earlier.

As the elderly man’s body moved again without his consent, he was startled but then shouted with a determined look on his face.

“I will do as you command! Leave it to me!”

And he ran toward the entrance where the Hellhound had exited.

Even though Lee Shin had given an order that might get him killed, the elderly man followed it without any resentment, seeming instead to do his best to fulfill it.

In fact, all of the summoned slaves acted this way.

They were loyal, dedicated, and most of all, they were trying to impress Lee Shin.

‘These humans summoned here, they were said to be those who fell into hell, right?’

Lee Shin could easily deduce the truth.

They followed him because they didn’t want to return to hell.

‘It seems I have some authority to save them.’

Lee Shin decided to take note of it for now.

For the time being, he hurriedly responded to the enemy's attack.

‘Build the barracks! Over there!’

“Yes!”

Another slave ran toward the entrance. Once the barracks were constructed there, the already narrow entrance became even narrower.

The goal was to use the building to create a bottleneck, making defense easier.

Meanwhile, the elderly slave who had been chasing the Hellhound kept reporting the outside situation to Lee Shin.

Strangely enough, despite the distance, everything the slave saw and heard was transmitted directly to Lee Shin through telepathy.

From a distance, five Hellhounds could be seen running toward them.

Including the one that had just finished scouting and was retreating, there were a total of six.

‘They’re coming!’

The six Hellhounds pounced savagely on the scouting slave.

“Aaaah!”

In an instant, the elderly slave was brutally torn apart and killed.

“……!!”

Lee Shin was so shocked that his heart nearly stopped. A person had truly died. This wasn’t a game—it was real war.

At that moment, the barracks that had been under construction were finally completed.

[Barracks: A building that allows the summoning of archers, spearmen, and shield-bearers.]

[Spearmen and shield-bearers cannot be summoned yet due to the lack of necessary structures.]

[Archers can be summoned. Summoning an archer requires 50 magic power.]

“Summon an archer.”

[Summoning an archer. 50 magic power will be consumed.]

“Summon one more slave as well.”

[Summoning one slave at the headquarters. 50 magic power will be consumed.]

Lee Shin then gave orders to four of the slaves who had been gathering magic power.

“Form a scrum and block the entrance.”

The four slaves ran toward the entrance.

The already narrowed passage, due to the newly built barracks, was now completely blocked off by the four slaves.

Just then, a series of welcome notifications rang out.

[An archer has been summoned.]

[The barracks have been completed.]

“Oh! A battlefield!”

The newly summoned archer shouted in excitement. He was a middle-aged man with a noticeable scar on his cheek.

“This must be Asteia. Oh? Are you the contractor?”

“That’s right.”

“Just give me the orders!”

Though he had seemed rather carefree at first, the middle-aged man instantly became respectful.

“The enemy is coming. Hold them back. The slaves will block the entrance, so shoot from behind them.”

“Understood!”

At last, the six Hellhounds arrived.

“Grrr!”

“Grrrrr!”

“Fight! Hold the entrance!”

The four slaves and the six Hellhounds clashed violently.

Of course, the barehanded slaves were no match for the Hellhounds' vicious fangs, but they struggled desperately to resist.

“Argh! Damn these things!”

“You damn mutts!”

“Die, damn it!”

Meanwhile, the archer began shooting arrows from behind.

Whoosh—Thwack!

“Yelp!”

An arrow embedded itself in a Hellhound’s body.

But instead of dying, the wounded Hellhound sank its fangs into a slave’s neck.

Another arrow pierced the creature’s throat, and a nearby slave gouged out its eye with his fingers.

“Yelp—!”

At last, one Hellhound was killed.

However, one slave had been lost, and the remaining ones were covered in blood.

Lee Shin quickly ordered the two slaves who had built the barracks to join the fight and continued summoning archers from both barracks.

The battle raged on fiercely.