Chapter 43

Chapter 43: State Secret (4)

Unicorn Guild was a guild operated by America's mega-corporation, Unicorn Corporation.

They'd poured astronomical sums into recruiting Heroes.

—The Avengers have arrived! Unicorn Guild.

America's—and humanity's—greatest fighting force.

Unicorn's prestige towered above every other guild.

However, they were as interested in corporate profits as they were in protecting humanity.

That made Unicorn Guild's operations difficult to comprehend by common sense.

My course ran with five- or six-person parties.

The reason was simple: five or six was generally the most efficient allocation of manpower.

If a party's total workload was 100, a five-person party divided it into 20 per person.

No individual could handle 100, but 20 was feasible.

But what if you split that 20 even further?

That was when surplus resources began to appear and efficiency dropped.

Yet Unicorn operated in twelve-person parties.

—U.S. expert advises Unicorn Guild: "Grouping twelve S-rank Heroes together is inefficient."

—U.S. Hero Association recommends Unicorn split its party into two.

Voices of concern came from multiple quarters, but Unicorn Corporation ignored them all.

The reason was simple.

Grouping star-power Heroes together was far more profitable.

The first party I'd been asked to consult on, in particular, was where Unicorn assembled the absolute cream of the crop.

And so, goddamn it, nine of the twelve party members were DPS.

DPS was a position with star power.

So they'd essentially corralled the most marketable members into one group.

Among the melee DPS alone, there were six—and five of them were swordsmen.

The preposterous reasoning: swords were the most popular weapon.

I marveled at how they'd managed to keep a party like this functioning at all.

I asked Edelin as tactfully as I could.

"How have you been operating the party until now?"

"We assign Free Role to the melee DPS and split them off from the main body."

"Oh dear."

The worst possible choice.

Generally speaking, melee DPS had well-rounded stats across the board.

They could self-tank, had mobility, and their damage output went without saying.

That was why exceptional swordsmen—like Baek Seolhwa of B-team—were given Free Role within their parties, free to roam the battlefield.

But at the level of Unicorn's first party, that only backfired.

In a party like this, it was extremely difficult for any single individual to stand out.

And it wasn't one, but five on Free Role? The odds of their movements overlapping in various situations were enormous.

"Free Role" sounded good in theory, but in practice it was an admission of surrender—they didn't know what else to do, so they just told them to figure it out.

"Six warriors, two mages, one archer, one tank, one priest, one assassin."

No normal person would ever have tried to design a strategy around a composition like this.

Even veteran gamers who'd seen multiple endings would balk.

But there was one memory surfacing in my mind.

—You ever do concept runs?

It had started with a comment on my X-Tube channel.

My channel never blew up, but a handful of regulars always left comments.

—Concept runs?

—You know, like beating the game naked with just the starter weapon.

—That does sound fun. But Florian Rhapsody has a lot of party-based elements... I can't exactly strip my allies too.

—How about this then? Play with a batshit insane party comp. Like an all-DPS party...

I could say with absolute certainty: no one in this world knew more about comp-breaking, degenerate compositions than I did.

After more research and trial-and-error than anyone else, the degenerate tactics I'd perfected had reached the realm of art.

So I said with confidence.

"This is easy."

"Pardon?"

Edelin was taken aback by my attitude.

"This isn't just about America's security—it's about all of humanity. If you're planning to just wing it......"

"Don't worry."

Drawing on my memories of researching all-mage comps, all-tank comps, and the like—this was more than enough material to work with. Plenty, even.

With this, I could build a fairly solid party.

As a side note, the all-DPS party had been a disaster.

Other comps at least had some room to scrape by, but all-DPS was a genuinely useless garbage composition where nothing worked.

"You assigned Free Role to the melee DPS in order to maximize their impact, correct?"

"That's right."

She was mildly impressed that I'd nailed Unicorn's intent so quickly.

This was a basic deduction anyone could make with a little thought.

"The premise itself is wrong."

I posed a question to Edelin.

"When a specific class goes from one member to two, does efficiency double?"

"No."

"Correct. If a task requires two, you need two. But if one person can handle it, adding a second doesn't improve anything. You don't need two priests healing one wounded party member, or two archers tracking one target."

"So that's exactly why we need to find a way to use more people more efficiently, isn't it?"

A common trap.

I'd fallen into it at first too. But the efficiency was so terrible that I'd given up.

So I'd flipped the approach.

Instead of trying to optimize the surplus class, I bolstered the underrepresented ones.

"You need to look at the party from a wider perspective. No matter how much you adjust the strategy, the efficiency gains for the melee DPS are marginal at best."

"Then what should we do?"

I pulled out a tablet PC for the explanation.

Edelin stopped me and handed over one she'd brought instead. Their security really was thorough.

"Here, look."

On the tablet, I drew twelve circles, each labeled with a Unicorn party member's name.

The tank up front, the rest scattered randomly—the other classes, the warriors.

This was Edelin's current party.

"What you need to do is use the warriors to support the other classes. Like this."

I moved the circles with warrior names.

One warrior was placed beside the tank, the archer, each of the two mages, and the priest. Then I drew larger circles pairing each duo together.

The remaining lone warrior and the assassin got their own large circle, making seven sets in total.

"By assigning a warrior escort to each non-assassin class, this is what you get."

I spread the larger circles far apart across the tablet.

"The rear-line classes gain mobility. In a conventional formation, they could only operate under the protection of the tank and melee DPS."

"In this setup, they can move anywhere?"

"Yes. That opens up the entire field. Additionally, the tank in the front line gains the ability to counterattack."

Edelin pressed her hand to her forehead.

It wouldn't be easy to grasp immediately. I'd thought it wouldn't work at first either—I'd stumbled onto it out of sheer desperation.

"I'd like to hear more."

Edelin withheld her verdict.

***

"...So in that situation, you need to scramble the turns. If someone accidentally gets hit with a status effect, it's a wipe."

"I see."

Edelin was silently awed.

She hadn't believed it before meeting him. She'd known Professor Cha's papers were remarkable, but they were fundamentally different in nature from Unicorn Guild's problem.

She'd assumed that no matter how brilliant a professor he was, he'd have no real answer.

When Unicorn Corporation had scheduled the meeting on their own, she'd protested that it would be a waste of time.

But meeting him in person had changed her mind.

'This man is incredible.'

She'd been skeptical at first.

The groundbreaking theory he presented looked worth investigating.

At the same time, she'd suspected it was all theory—that it wouldn't hold up in practice. But her fears were unfounded.

"Think back to the Valley of Ruin. After you enter, there'll be a Gripter at the ten o'clock position and an Agrabton at eleven o'clock. First, position only the healer in the rear......"

His explanations were extraordinarily detailed.

He laid out exactly what would appear where inside a dungeon and how to respond—so precisely that it was as if he were playing a video in his head.

"...Once you wrap up to that point, the dungeon is cleared."

"I see."

Every specific detail fit together seamlessly.

One flawless logical chain after another—Edelin had no choice but to concede.

This would absolutely work.

The strategy this man had put forward was the real deal.

"But how do you know the Valley of Ruin's layout in such detail? It's as though you've been there yourself."

"...Looking up dungeon records is a hobby of mine. I compiled every available record and tried to reconstruct it mentally. I'm glad it seems to be fairly accurate."

Fairly accurate? That level of detail went far beyond "fairly."

Most parties didn't even write dungeon records that detailed to begin with.

In any case, that wasn't the point—so Edelin accepted the explanation and let it go.

Edelin expressed her gratitude.

"Thank you. I've learned so much from you today, Professor."

"The pleasure is mine, being able to help."

A pang of regret struck Edelin.

This man's abilities were genuine.

Not just the first party—what if he consulted for Unicorn's other parties too? What if he stayed on as Unicorn's chief strategist?

Unicorn would undoubtedly reach a new level.

'Korea would foam at the mouth, but... so what.'

His skills were proven and she liked him as a person. Polite, and easy on the eyes to boot.

Right. Decision made.

Edelin spoke up.

"I've consulted many experts about this problem. But nobody has been like you, Professor. You're exactly what I've been looking for."

"Ah... thank you."

"Come to Unicorn. I'll give you the best treatment possible."

For a recruitment pitch, it was both brief and brazen.

But the name Unicorn alone was worth more than any sweet-talking offer.

And "the best treatment" from a guild renowned for its generous investment in talent? That meant a blank check at minimum.

Edelin was confident he'd accept.

"I appreciate the offer, but I'll have to decline."

"What?"

Edelin was stunned.

"May I ask why?"

"I'm someone who belongs as a professor."

What an absurd reason.

Being born a genius was a blessing. Everyone wished for it, but only a select few were chosen.

That made it the duty of those chosen few to use their talents properly.

"Professor Cha, I guarantee you—someone of your caliber teaching kids at an Academy is a loss for all of humanity. How about playing in a bigger pond?"

"I don't consider Florian a small pond. It's a place where limitless potential lies dormant."

Was this confidence in his abilities as a professor, matching his prowess as a strategist?

Come to think of it, his explanations earlier had been instantly digestible.

She could concede that talented children studying under someone like him could become extraordinary Heroes.

"Then how about an American Academy? Halo Academy, for instance."

Halo.

The Academy called the best in the world.

Florian was among the world's top-tier academies, but next to Halo, it was the difference between a full moon and a firefly.

But Professor Cha's answer remained the same.

"I'm sorry."

Edelin's frustration mounted.

She couldn't remember the last time she'd wanted someone this badly.

Every instinct screamed at her: this man must be secured.

"If you come to America—to Unicorn—I'll give you anything you want."

"I'm sorry."

In the end, Cha Eunwoo declined every last one of Edelin's conditions.

Even Edelin Pierce wouldn't drag someone who'd said no against their will.

She finally raised the white flag.

Edelin clicked her tongue with lingering regret, then asked.

"Alright... But can you tell me just one thing? Why do you want to stay at Florian Academy?"

Cha Eunwoo answered without hesitation.

"Because it is the key to the best possible path."