◈ Chapter 32. The Basics Are Important, After All
A scream.
Nam Taemin’s face twisted like the famous painting of the same name.
“……
Uwaaaaaaaah!!”
Why was he suddenly screaming?
There wasn’t even a monster in sight.
Had he activated some sort of berserk state?
“What the hell. What’s with you all of a sudden, Nam Taemin?”
“Hyung, did you eat something bad?”
“I told you not to eat so much cup ramen earlier……”
The guild members’ faces filled with bewilderment.
As expected, the one who noticed the change in his emotions was none other than.
Blood thicker than water.
His older brother, Nam Cheolmin.
-……
Hoo. Yeah, I knew something felt off!
They had been attacking the Yusra Islands while clinging to the last thread of hope that they might recruit Lee Hoyeol.
The two had thought no news was good news.
And yet, what was this sight before their eyes?
“H-How can this be!”
The Lionheart Knights.
He had appeared leading those monster NPCs!
If they had given up earlier, the shock might have been less severe.
But with this, they could cleanly abandon all lingering attachment.
-Taemin. Now we have no choice but to go with Plan B.
As expected of an analyst, Nam Cheolmin made a swift judgment.
The alternative he spoke of was simple.
-If we can’t have a friendly relationship, then at the very least, we have to avoid a hostile one.
If you can’t handle it, don’t even touch it.
Nam Taemin nodded.
“……
Yeah, seeing it in person sure cures my anger issues.”
A greatsword as tall as a person and a one-handed sword.
Though their sizes differed, Nam Taemin, like Harkon, was someone who swung a sword.
That was why he could guess.
The difference in their level.
The berserker who had come over from the neighboring island was the same.
“Ugyak?!”
It was Leoni who made that bizarre sound.
“……
Unni, is that some new kind of aegyo you developed?”
Shut that mouth.
She needed to immediately snap back at that.
But she was so shocked that she didn’t even have the presence of mind to do so.
The instinct of a berserker who knew nothing but battle.
Leoni reflexively began estimating the odds.
‘……
A frontal battle? A surprise attack? Ganging up on him?! No matter what we do.’
Harkon Kingsguard.
She couldn’t imagine beating that old man.
Leoni roughly scratched her head.
“Uwaaa, damn it. Seriously!!”
This was the final island.
Since she hadn’t obtained the island’s treasure,
she had sworn she would go properly wild.
“This is cheating!”
The Lionheart Knights?
Where did those things suddenly pop out from?
At this rate, forget the island’s treasure.
Could she even earn any contribution against the named monster?
Step, step—
Leoni had no choice but to walk with the face of a corpse.
“……
Huh?”
Her short height.
It was because her field of vision was relatively narrow.
Only then, a beat later than everyone else,
did Leoni discover the man standing with the knights.
“T-That……?!”
Among the knights in glittering plate armor.
A silver-haired man dressed in an ink-black suit.
Hoyeol.
“I knew this would happen.”
Shining.
“How could a brat from Korea?”
Cheonha Tongil.
Tudududu—
Even the helicopters in the sky.
There was no need to distinguish between them.
At this moment.
Everyone’s gaze was directed at Hoyeol and the Lionheart Knights.
...
Let’s see.
Had I ever received such burning attention in my entire life?
That fact alone was enough to make me faint from shock.
“They have at least observed the minimum decorum.”
Instead, I was actually feeling satisfied by that tremendous attention.
Thanks to that, I realized once again.
“This is meaningful progress.”
This shamelessness……!
How can those words come out right now?
If I could, I wanted to question myself.
It couldn’t be helped.
I did have some tact, after all.
I could tell that the current silence and those gazes were by no means favorable reactions.
Even if I put myself in their shoes, it was understandable enough.
‘I’d be shocked too, honestly.’
If some player appeared leading the Lionheart Knights, who had been called the strongest in the Empire, that is. And right when the island’s treasure was on the line, no less.
‘It’s only natural that they’d be wary.’
However.
‘I’m going crazy over this too……!’
An alliance between me and the Lionheart Knights.
Hadn’t this relationship begun from a misunderstanding?
To be precise, it had begun from an overestimation of me.
What kind of eyes were they all looking at me with?
It wasn’t something I could know just by thinking about it.
Still, there was one thing I could guarantee.
‘At the very least, they can’t possibly imagine that I’m level 166.’
What if the bubble burst at this rate?
Would I be treated like a fraud later?
I might have been restless.
If it had been the old me, that is.
But the me of now was confident.
It wasn’t only because of Grandfell’s influence.
Because I had been struggling desperately.
Because I was always struggling.
Because I was certain that I would not sink.
『To underestimation, he gave proof. Overestimation, he ultimately made into reality.』
……
Somehow, as time passed,
I felt like I was becoming more and more like Grandfell from the setting.
But it didn’t matter.
A dark past was not something to immerse oneself in, but something to overcome.
Grandfell, too, was nothing more than the past me.
‘A lonely battle no one will ever recognize, huh.’
Still, at least right now, I wasn’t lonely.
Harkon, who was beside me, had played along with my words.
“Indeed, they seem to have discipline firmly established. Is this your work, Sir Hoyeol?”
If anything, it felt like he was going even further than I was.
In any case, it was time to focus on the enemy before us.
The final named monster of the Yusra Islands.
[Lava Giant Silk Carp: Lv.420]
Amid the flowing tension, the creature revealed itself.
As expected, just as its name suggested,
it was fiery from the start.
Ruuuumble—!
“……
Do you feel that? The ground is shaking!”
“Is it an earthquake?”
“No. It’s erupting. It’s a volcanic eruption!!”
The players shouted.
They were right.
Bababang—!
At the center of the island, smoke rose from the mountain, and red lava began to spout forth.
A named monster was indeed a named monster.
It certainly had something different from level alone.
“No need to be scared. We proceed according to plan.”
“Everyone brought equipment with fire resistance options, right?”
“Anyone off cooldown? Can someone cast a blessing on me just once?”
Of course, there were no players panicking or floundering.
They had been able to confirm the information in the update details.
“Lava” Giant Silk Carp.
Just by looking at the name, they must have known what kind of preparations they needed.
“This is not particularly good.”
Harkon’s brow furrowed.
It was hard to imagine NPCs summoned from Arcana checking the update details on the homepage.
And even if they had checked, it would not have been easy for them to prepare.
I, who had been quietly standing by, opened my mouth.
“There is no need to worry, Sir Harkon.”
It wasn’t bravado.
Fire resistance equipment?
Fire resistance buffs?
Why would such things be necessary?
When there was 『magic』.
I checked the amount of mana I had remaining.
‘Including the little that regenerated, about eighty percent.’
As expected, it had been worth not being satisfied with the brooch’s effect and conserving my mana.
If I had this much mana on the final island,
I could manifest magic without worry.
I finished speaking.
“I did not lead you here without a countermeasure.”
*
Today Arcana.
The experts passionately spoke over the broadcast footage.
“I-I don’t know what exactly is going on, but it is certain that this is unprecedented, whether before or after the Cataclysm! A player has appeared accompanied by a knight order. And not just any order, but the Empire’s strongest, the Lionheart Knights!”
“I agree. From his very first appearance, he has shown truly unbelievable actions. Player Lee Hoyeol!”
“According to a report that just came in, Player Lee Hoyeol has also obtained an island treasure. They say he defeated the named monster, the Golden-Fanged Giant Turtle, in alliance with the Lionheart Knights!”
“If it’s the Golden-Fanged Giant Turtle, wasn’t that the named monster that boasted the highest level in the new update details, expert?”
Gaon’s achievements.
Because of them, the already excited atmosphere in the studio grew even hotter.
Whether Lee Hoyeol’s interview attitude was honest or arrogant,
what did any of that matter?
“With achievements like this, even if he says whatever he wants from now on, we can understand it all! We’re proud of you, Player Lee Hoyeol!”
It felt as though something that had been suppressed was being refreshingly cleared away.
The cast basked in the afterglow for only a moment.
The named monster revealed itself.
Its entrance alone was noisy.
“As expected of a named monster. It is changing the environment.”
Because the scene was being filmed from the air, the changing battle situation could be seen at a glance.
The sight of surging lava rapidly covering the island.
The experts expressed concern.
“……
This will be tricky.”
“Their movements are bound to be restricted.”
“I hope the players prepared properly.”
But the environment was not the only tricky part.
As if swimming through water,
the Lava Giant Silk Carp began swimming through the lava covering the ground.
Splash—!
The creature thrashed about with its massive body, sending lava flying.
Naturally, lava splashed in every direction.
The struggling players were broadcast exactly as they were.
“……
If not for the buffs, they would have taken heavy damage.”
“It’s extremely annoying. It won’t fight them head-on at all.”
“It’s only running away, but rather, the damage to the players is piling up! That silk goldfish! Why is a mere fish so crafty!”
“Expert, it’s not a goldfish, it’s a carp……”
“Same thing, same thing. They’re both fish heads, aren’t they!”
To the point that he snapped without realizing it.
The battle situation was abnormal.
The biggest problem above all was that the creature had no intention of fighting.
Close combat was impossible because of the surging lava.
Even when long-range attacks, including magic, were launched, it hid inside the lava and minimized the damage.
The cast carefully gathered their opinions.
“This battle has no choice but to drag on.”
That was when it happened.
When that prediction was overturned.
The broadcast screen suddenly zoomed in.
Those who had been watching silently were horrified.
“W-Wait a moment! The lava is splitting apart right now?!”
*
Level was always the absolute standard.
But sometimes, compatibility was just as important.
For example, like now.
“It seems difficult to approach, Commander.”
Harkon was level 600.
For him, even a level 420 named monster probably wouldn’t be much of a problem.
As long as he could get close.
No, if the creature so much as showed signs of attacking, and he was willing to endure a little damage, Harkon could probably cut it down as if filleting it.
“It would be nice if it showed even the smallest opening. But it does not seem to have any intention of doing so.”
That was what compatibility meant.
In both the environment and its temperament.
However, that compatibility applied differently to me.
I looked at the lava.
Search.
This lava was not something like a [Skill].
Just like the stones lying around,
there was no need to go through an inefficient process.
‘All of this is possible thanks to Grandfell’s setting.’
Of course, since it was not a material as familiar to me as stone, creative interference was impossible.
But that was fine.
Because I was not alone.
I manifested magic.
What I added to the interference process was simple positional manipulation.
Since it was an unfamiliar search material, the mana consumption was considerable.
But manifesting it posed no difficulty.
Which meant.
Swooooosh—!
Soon, the lava split apart.
Harkon spoke to me.
“I feel foolish for having doubted you, even for a moment. Sir Hoyeol!”
Harkon looked clearly astonished.
If even the great Harkon was that surprised,
then it was only natural that the players could not hide their shock.
“This is insane……!”
“After all that, now he’s splitting lava?!”
“I seriously can’t even guess what kind of skill that is!”
Magic, which allowed creative manifestation unlike skills.
Even with Grandfell’s mind, it had taken me several days to realize that.
Even if I kindly explained it to them, they probably wouldn’t understand.
So I said to Harkon.
“This time, there is no need to trouble yourself with climbing stairs, Sir Harkon.”
A personality that did not exult or despair.
Even in a situation like this, he could somehow make a joke.
Harkon drew his sword and raised the corners of his mouth.
“I cannot help but answer such added consideration!”
Through the split in the lava,
the Lionheart Knights charged.
Pure admiration welled up in me.
‘I don’t know whose party members you all are, but you’re reliable. All of you.’
But my job was not over here.
As long as I had mana remaining, I had to do my best.
Now that we were in a party,
I had to contribute to the kill to some extent if I wanted to obtain experience and loot……!
Of course, I could not consume too much mana.
Until Harkon and the knights were no longer swept up by the lava,
I had to maintain the current manifestation.
‘The amount of mana I can use is extremely small.’
What I could do with an extremely small amount of mana was,
at most, interfere with “stone,” the search material I was most familiar with.
And that was precisely
the reason I was confident I had the advantage in compatibility.
The split lava.
Because of that, the lava that rapidly cooled began changing form.
‘……
Well, it can’t be helped.’
I had resolved not to fight in such a petty way.
But in the end, I had no choice but to drag out elementary science one more time.
What is formed when lava cools is basalt.
Though the name is different, its essence is still a lump of rock.
Stone, the search material more familiar to me than anything else.
So, search, interference, manifestation.
That series of processes was swift.
And the mana consumption was also extremely slight.
Crack, crack, crack—!
Soon, dozens of stone spears floated into the air.
Shushushushuk—
I sent those stone spears flying toward the side of the lava carp.
“……
This is insane!!”
“I-Is this real? Seriously?!”
“W-What are we even looking at right now……?”
At this moment, I did not care about the gazes directed at me.
The manifestation of magic that dragged in everything available.
That, too, was my way.
I said calmly.
“A hit.”