◈ Episode 278. Starting from Zero (2)
It was common sense for players.
System messages did not lie.
So he could not believe that Lee Hoyeol had seen through [Stealth].
[Stealth (Master): Conceals the body within the surrounding environment. The farther the distance from the opponent, the drastically lower the chance of being discovered.]
A Stealth skill proficiency that had reached Master.
And as if that weren’t enough, the description explicitly said “drastically”?
Even if it were a dragon living at the peak of the Zero Mountains, unless they were the ones to emit killing intent first, it should not be able to notice their presence from a distance of several hundred meters or more.
‘The aggro system is a different matter.’
Their objective was purely information gathering.
It was not some kind of surprise attack.
Naturally, neither the man nor the special task force harbored any hostility.
‘He absolutely should not have been able to notice us….’
The more experience he had, the less he could understand it.
Then, a thought suddenly flashed through his mind.
Perhaps it was only natural that he could not understand it…?
‘……
The Dark Dragon.’
Even a dragon could not know.
Then, if it were a being greater than a dragon.
If it were the Dark Dragon.
‘Does that mean he might be able to see through Stealth…?!’
And that very Dark Dragon was right before his eyes.
The moment he made his judgment,
the man became aware of exactly what they had been doing.
“!”
They had been tailing the Dark Dragon…!
This was not a development that had been planned.
Furthermore, this was also a judgment made for the sake of their lord.
If they were to face Hoyeol like this…
‘That arrow will return not to me, but to my lord.’
Nod—
And so the man signaled to the special task force.
At this moment, it was a tactical retreat. Ignore the Dark Dragon’s warning merely to obtain information about the Great Alliance? The cost-benefit did not add up.
Sssss!
As he withdrew, the man swallowed a sigh of relief.
And once again, he realized.
At this moment, the reason he had preserved his life
was thanks to the Dark Dragon’s magnanimous mercy.
‘If not for him.’
I might have ended up in the same situation as those who lost contact.
Thinking of them, a thought occurred to him.
‘Is there a possibility Lee Hoyeol is involved in their disappearance…?’
If it were Lee Hoyeol,
he could subdue the experts of Cheonha Tongil in a short time and remain perfectly fine.
But the man soon shook his head.
Because, after all,
hadn’t his movements been broadcast to the entire world in real time?
Even until just moments ago.
‘He was surrounded by reporters and cameras.’
Even if he manifested a portal to move, the timing did not match.
Above all, Lee Hoyeol had no reason to come into contact with Cheonha Tongil’s experts. Wasn’t that obvious from the fact that he had shown mercy to them, decisively enough?
‘He is not a man of ordinary caliber.’
Meaning he was not someone who would engage in backroom schemes.
“……
Then who in the world could it be?”
He had suspected the Great Alliance after seeing them gather their forces.
But if the reason for that was Lee Hoyeol, it made sense.
Why, welcoming one’s lord grandly was only the natural duty of a vassal.
Thanks to that, his line of thought was cast into utter confusion.
What awakened the man was none other than a vibration.
Ziiing!
“……!”
It was news that those who had gone missing
had returned to the rendezvous point calmly,
as if nothing at all had happened.
“What the hell is going on?”
More than the disappointment of having wasted his efforts, he simply could not understand it.
Even if their lord had left the Zero Mountains for the sake of the connector,
to return as if nothing had happened after disobeying their lord’s orders.
“As one of the Five Stars, I cannot overlook such conduct.”
He could not completely fill the void left by his lord.
However, even if only slightly, in his lord’s stead,
he would have to hold them responsible for violating discipline.
“We move swiftly.”
The man and the special task force headed for the rendezvous point.
Unaware that the cause of the very incident they had searched so desperately for,
the Shadow Mercenary Corps,
was coiled up there.
*
Squeak, squeak!
A rat hurriedly vanished into the grass.
Even if I was reviving my original spirit,
there was no need for my way of speaking to return to those days as well.
Through the reactions around me, I realized just how much destructive power my mouth possessed.
“To bestow upon us an eternal night… What a truly impressive expression.”
Don’t nod like you’re moved, Hisagi.
And who’s the person over there writing it down?!
Damn it, I’m already starting to regret choosing this cave.
‘With Grandfell’s personality, he’d probably compliment them on taking good notes.’
Rather than say something like that,
I would rather look away.
I avoided my gaze with the message that appeared.
[Small Champion’s Sanctuary Beneath the Mountains]
[Recommended Level: 850]
[Collapse Rate: 100%]
Someone might ask.
Why did you suddenly bring up a proverb about rats?
The reason was simple and clear.
Because the “small champion” in the message referred to a rat.
“Its structure is similar to a labyrinth.”
Where Hisagi pointed as he said that was a rat hole hidden in the grass.
Not as a metaphor, but an actual rat hole that rats went in and out of.
I wondered how he had found something like this,
but when I saw Hisagi’s snake eyes, I understood.
‘Well, snakes are natural enemies of rats, after all.’
Though Hisagi wasn’t actually a snake.
At any rate, my body hesitated, if only for an instant.
Grandfell, of all people, hesitating.
That was not a common occurrence.
‘Of course, it can’t be because he’s scared.’
Level 850.
It did belong to the fairly high end, but I had stood upright without shrinking back even before rifts and monsters worse than that. In the end, there could only be one reason Grandfell hesitated.
‘Seriously, that obsession with keeping his clothes neat.’
He must be worrying that his clothes might get wrinkled while entering the small rat hole.
Fine, it was nice to feel a rare sense of humanity from him, but…
Even so, isn’t the direction of your worries far too different from other people’s?
Hisagi, having no way of knowing what I was thinking, continued.
“However, as befits a cave, it has a peculiar system. The moment you enter, your body’s size shrinks. To the point that a small rat appears as a monster several meters tall.”
I had felt it in the [Sea of Lava] where we encountered the Siren as well, but the caves of the Zero Mountains certainly had troublesome elements. In each cave, there existed “something” that could not be conquered by level alone.
‘That’s why experience is important.’
Hadn’t I realized that level was nothing more than the size of a drawing paper?
Depending on what one drew on that paper through what experiences, the finished result would also change.
In that sense.
“It will be no bad challenge for you all.”
The Zero Mountains.
Especially experience in its caves would become great nourishment for the players. Of course, “you all” included me, Lee Hoyeol. Anyway, to think Hisagi’s words shook off my hesitation so quickly.
‘If my body gets smaller, there’ll be no need to struggle in the rat hole.’
For Grandfell, who no longer had to worry about his attire being wrinkled, there was nothing left to fear.
Without hesitation, I stepped toward the rat hole.
Toward the cave entrance.
Hisagi followed behind and continued speaking.
“Thank you for trusting me and choosing it.”
……
No, if someone heard that, they’d think I had made some important decision.
The reason I chose Hisagi’s cave was simple.
It was simply because it had the highest recommended level.
But perhaps because he had been infected by pride,
the way he attached grand meaning to every action
made him look exactly like Grandfell, Hisagi…
‘I sincerely do not want any more clones.’
I swallowed my lament and stepped forward.
[You are entering the “Small Champion’s Sanctuary Beneath the Mountains.”]
...
Squeak, squeak!
The cries of rats rang out loud enough to split my eardrums.
Along with the entry message, I felt my body had shrunk.
‘By the way.’
So it wasn’t called a sanctuary for nothing. Perhaps because it was a sanctuary built by rats. It felt clumsy somehow, but it was certainly filled with a reverent atmosphere.
‘The holy land of the Goddess Church, Muon, probably had exactly this kind of atmosphere?’
Comparing the sanctuary of rats to the holy land of the Goddess Church.
Talim might feel hurt if he heard that.
But what can I do when that’s how it feels?
“It is magnificent.”
Above all, its enormous scale overwhelmed its shoddiness.
Its actual size was probably nothing remarkable,
but to my shrunken field of vision, it appeared immensely large.
Leaving me behind, preoccupied with aesthetic appraisal,
Hisagi began preparations for the raid.
Setting up a base camp and dividing the roles of advance and rear parties.
So this is what a systematic raid is like.
‘As expected, I still have much to learn.’
If I were going to insist on solo play like before, it would be knowledge I had no particular need for. But I had come to shoulder not just a guild, but even the Allied Forces of the Holy War. As experiences like this piled up, the day would come when I could make use of them.
Hisagi, having finished the preparations, said,
“Then we will begin in earnest. If you notice anything lacking, please reprimand me harshly at any time, Commander-in-Chief Lee Hoyeol.”
I need to have the qualifications to reprimand you before I can do that.
As I said, when it came to party or guild-scale raids, I was a complete outsider. I could not even benefit from Grandfell’s impressive settings, because player-style raids were clearly different from Arcana’s tactics.
And yet, as expected, my mouth spoke shamelessly.
“In that case, I shall watch, Hisagi.”
Of course, that did not mean I intended to simply stand back.
Even struggling required proper pacing.
To put it bluntly, if I used both orthodox methods and tricks, I could clear something with a recommended level of 850 by myself. But what I needed to look toward was not one step ahead, but the near future.
‘Because there’s no meaning if I advance alone.’
Experience points?
Well, I do need them even just to wear my jacket properly.
But even if it was not this cave,
I had more than enough means to obtain experience points.
‘Because I can enter the Arcana Continent.’
So I intended to step in appropriately when I needed to, and watch when I needed to watch. I said it grandly, but as I mentioned, simply watching was already a profitable trade.
However…
As expected of the underground of a land recommended to no one.
Starting from the dragons at the summit,
nothing in the Zero Mountains could be judged by level alone.
The Hundred Thousand Caves were no different.
Squeak, squeak, squeak!
Huge cries came from every direction.
And soon,
giant rats revealed themselves.
“Hisagi-san! At this rate, the formation seems meaningless!”
Of course it had to be meaningless.
When rats the size of houses were rushing in from all directions,
there would be no strategic advantage in separating the front line from the rear line.
Hisagi raised his spear and shouted,
“We break through at one point!”
It was an extremely common-sense judgment.
Defense or a melee in an open space where every side was exposed?
That would be no different from suicide.
But no matter how I looked at it, the balance did not match.
Squeak, squeak!
Energy rising from all over the sanctuary.
It was probably the ability of the boss mob of this cave, the “Small Champion.”
Thanks to the sanctuary, the morale of the giant rats seemed to have risen sharply.
‘Is this the home team buff?’
In contrast, what was the situation on this side?
Hisagi’s current level was in the mid-500s.
That meant he was as many as 300 levels behind the cave’s recommended level.
If even Hisagi, a ranker, was in that situation, there was no need to mention the others.
Because he knew that fact.
‘That’s why neither Hisagi nor the other two could enter.’
In short, because they trusted in my fighting power,
the Great Alliance had begun the cave’s raid.
Then, even to live up to their expectations,
it was only natural that I, too, put in my full strength.
Of course, beating the monsters to death wasn’t necessarily the best method, was it?
As I said, what was needed was appropriate pacing.
My role as a coach
was to raise the morale of the away team so it would not fall behind the home team.
In that case, first—
‘I need to do something about that annoying buff.’
There were two methods.
Either smash the sanctuary and pour cold water on the home team,
or else give the Great Alliance a buff comparable to the sanctuary buff.
Which option was best?
I did not deliberate for long.
What players desperately needed
was not fish.
It was the method of catching fish.
They called it the Small Champion, did they?
It seemed to reign here like a god.
But we also have someone small yet great on our side.
“Hiel.”
That’s right.
Now, of all times,
this was a battlefield suitable for Hiel, who specialized in support abilities, to display her power.
Soon, Hiel responded to my call and appeared in midair.
But wait a second…
Why are you so huge, Hiel?!
A thought suddenly came to mind.
Could it be that for Hiel, a {Unique Spirit} and not a player,
the cave system that made one shrink
upon entry did not apply?
“……!!!”
Thanks to that, Hiel’s already splendid and flowing figure could only appear even more noble and magnificent. I could hear the players begin to murmur.
But then.
“W-wait a second… What is that?”
“The halo is too strong, I can’t see her face properly.”
“But in Arcana, a being like that…”
“N-no way… Is she… the Goddess…?!”
What did you say, Gooooddeeeesssss?!
Don’t tell me they’re mistaking Hiel…
for the goddess of the Goddess Church,
the largest religion on the Arcana Continent, right now?
‘Even if they can’t see her face, still, a goddess?’
And why are you just listening to them, Hiel…?
Even if you are Grandfell’s clone,
there’s no need to resemble him in being excessively brazen too.
No, what’s with that gentle, goddess-like smile?!