Chapter 64

Chapter 64: Crouching Dragon (3)

Half a day passed, and the Unicorn Guild members returned.

In the meantime, I'd been slowly reviewing the recorded footage from the vanguard.

The destroyer rode the massive whirlpool and surfged back up.

The Gate hadn't kindly spat them out -- it looked like Unicorn's Heroes had used magic to maneuver the ship themselves.

Lee Yeeun was impressed.

"Wow, S-rank Heroes really are something."

The vanguard's return was far earlier than expected.

Being a party composed of Unicorn's best had played a part, but the video magic making it easy to record information was the bigger factor.

"Professor Cha!"

Edelin, back from the mission, came looking for me.

She wore an expression full of questions.

"Well done out there."

"Thanks. More importantly, when did you create magic like this? Surely you must've spent years researching......"

"Since yesterday."

"What?"

Edelin looked at me like I'd told a bad joke.

"You're... kidding. Something like this can't be done overnight."

"I worked hard and it got done."

Of course, it wasn't me who'd worked hard.

It was all my student's doing.

"I-I see. By the way, I heard you took command of the first strike team."

"Yes."

"I wish you luck. If it were anyone else, I'd have tried to stop them, but since it's you, Professor Cha, I think you can pull it off."

"Thank you."

According to the information confirmed by the vanguard, this dungeon was estimated to contain at least 10 stages.

The vanguard had gathered information through Stage 6.

The original plan had been to send the first strike team tomorrow, but the command staff used the vanguard's early return as a pretext to move the schedule up to tonight.

The target was clearing Stage 2.

By tomorrow morning, they were to begin Stage 3.

Fierce opposition naturally arose.

"Are you kidding? With time this tight, not even Stage 1 but Stage 2?"

"This is impossible!"

But the command staff's decision didn't change.

Chairman Daniel, Commander Christian, and Commander John Dickell all insisted on the same directive.

Several Heroes spoke to China's Hero, Lie Xiao.

"Lie, say something, will you?"

"Yeah. If it came from you, Lie Xiao, maybe those guys would listen."

But Lie Xiao's response wasn't what they'd hoped for.

"Why are you so certain it's impossible?"

"Well, because......"

"I don't think it's an impossible goal."

For a brief moment, his gaze had rested on me.

The match against Zhuge Soyon must have left quite an impression, because he was sending me unlimited trust.

I appreciated that confidence.

So I'd better repay it in full.

Chairman Daniel approached me.

"Professor Cha, we plan to deploy the strike team in one hour. Will you be ready?"

"No problem."

"Oh, such tight timing and you say no problem -- how reassuring."

He seemed aware that his handling of this was shameless.

But it was fine.

Being pressed for time was something I was used to.

I entered the command center.

Information meticulously analyzed by the world's top experts from the dungeon footage filled the space.

The quality was reasonably good.

"An unusual dungeon."

Normally, a dungeon's name was assigned to reflect the overarching theme of the entire dungeon.

That's why this one still had no official name.

We'd been using the working title "Pacific Dungeon."

The Pacific Dungeon was located in the middle of the ocean and entered by ship, so the dungeon itself was underwater.

For Heroes who'd only ever fought on land, it was an extremely unfamiliar terrain.

Even I wasn't accustomed to this type.

"Should I use the destroyer as a big floating platform?"

The destroyer wouldn't be able to function inside the dungeon, but at the very least, it could float on water and carry people.

Lee Yeeun asked.

"The destroyer can't even move, can it?"

"The warriors can row."

"What? Pfft."

Lee Yeeun snorted.

It might look ridiculous, but this was better than wasting magic.

Besides, in underwater combat, it was more efficient to rely on mages and archers than to field warriors whose movements were restricted.

For now, the warriors' role was simply to guard the destroyer and row. That was enough.

"Next, the mages will......"

CLUNK--

The door opened and an uninvited guest barged in.

China's genius girl, Zhuge Soyon.

"Why are you here?"

"Um, so... sir."

Zhuge Soyon was fidgeting with her hands and feet, unable to stay still.

Lee Yeeun said in a friendly voice.

"Hey, what's going on?"

"I don't have business with you."

"Wh-What?"

The sudden hostility left Lee Yeeun dumbfounded.

It probably wasn't meant as a provocation -- that was just how she talked.

Still, I had no intention of being hospitable to a rude uninvited guest.

"As you can see, I'm busy. If it's not important, let's talk later."

Which was a polite way of saying get out.

Lee Yeeun got her revenge by sticking her tongue out at Zhuge Soyon.

Zhuge Soyon glared back fiercely.

What a childish pair.

Soon, Zhuge Soyon laid out why she'd come.

"I want to learn from you, sir."

"What?"

"I admit it, sir. Right now, I'm far behind you, sir. So I want to serve as your assistant during this dungeon raid and learn."

"That last part was informal speech."

"Learn, sir."

It wasn't a bad proposal for me either.

If I completed this raid successfully, my role within the expedition would grow and I'd only get busier.

Having one competent assistant would make things considerably easier.

Plus, Zhuge Soyon was a member of Lie Xiao's guild.

Granting Zhuge Soyon's wish here would count as doing Lie Xiao a favor.

"If you wish to ask for my teaching, then acknowledge me as your master."

"Got it, sir."

Zhuge Soyon began performing a formal bow.

Lee Yeeun asked in a small voice.

"I know what she's trying to do. That's a Nine-Bow Ceremony, right?"

Nine-Bow Ceremony? I had no idea either.

I'd only ever seen it in martial arts novels and had no clue how it was actually performed.

When Zhuge Soyon finished her bow, Lee Yeeun asked.

"Isn't a Nine-Bow Ceremony supposed to have nine bows?"

Zhuge Soyon clicked her tongue.

"Do you carry a rock on your shoulders?"

"Huh? If you're the Professor's student now too, then show some respect to your senior!"

"You expect me to call someone like you 'elder sister'?"

Zhuge Soyon looked at me as if genuinely asking whether she had to.

Having the two of them bicker constantly was exhausting, so establishing the pecking order now wasn't a bad idea.

I nodded.

"Show proper respect."

"...Understood, sir. So, esteemed one, do you carry a rock on your shoulders, ma'am? What I did was just a regular bow, ma'am. And a Nine-Bow Ceremony is......"

"Professor, she's saying mean things to me! Scold her!"

What was the point of all this.

Neither one was any better than a child.

"Enough playing around -- let's get to work. Zhuge Soyon, if you had this roster, how would you run the raid?"

Zhuge Soyon's expression turned serious.

She answered without hesitation.

"First, we modify the destroyer into an appropriate form. Strip away everything except the ability to float and transport Heroes, then the warriors physically move it."

"Using magic to move it would be most convenient, but in this dungeon, the mages need to lead the raid, so it'd be better for the warrior classes to row or swim. They have comparatively more to spare."

So far, the same as me.

Zhuge Soyon continued her analysis without pause.

"Stage 1's main enemies appear to be the giant sea creatures, but they're not. Those things are big and somewhat strong, but their patterns are simple and they have no debuffs -- easy kills."

"The first obstacle is that school of fish. They'll gnaw at the bottom of the destroyer without anyone noticing and strip away the Heroes' footing. So warriors taking turns guarding that area is critical."

"The second obstacle is the zones where the current suddenly speeds up. Monster density spikes sharply in those zones, requiring special attention. I'd recommend gathering all the mages to the center of the ship while warriors watch all directions."

"The final obstacle is that red seawater. Since it dissolves everything it touches, the only option seems to be having a tank physically push through it."

She'd distilled the key points well in a short time.

There were a few rough spots, but her level certainly warranted the title of China's best.

"Your first strategy -- okay. I agree."

Zhuge Soyon was pleased by my approval and clenched her fist.

"The second one... isn't terrible."

"Not terrible... sir?"

"Meaning it's not the best approach. I wish I could give you time to think it over, but circumstances don't allow it."

"Th-That can't be......"

"You called them 'zones where the current speeds up,' but that's not quite right. It's not zones -- it's time."

"Time... sir?"

"Yeah. This dungeon's currents change speed based on time. Starting here, reference the footage. On a one-hour basis: 13 minutes 30 seconds, 14 minutes 20 seconds, 15 minutes 10 seconds. See the pattern? Now break it down second by second."

"Y-Yes, sir."

"Can you see how the seawater shifts? Then why does the report say this?"

I'd found a problem.

Comparing the footage against the report, the report was a mess.

Why was a report from world-class experts in this state?

Then again, that was typical of them.

I'd momentarily forgotten.

In the game too, when you assigned high-difficulty dungeon analysis to NPCs, they'd often bring back garbage reports.

"Tch, now that I look at it, the report quality's awful. Nothing's recorded on a per-second basis."

For me, this was routine work, but these people had never analyzed a dungeon via video before, so a mistake of this caliber was understandable.

Still, considering their reputation as the world's foremost experts, it was disappointing.

Zhuge Soyon asked.

"Master... is that how you always work, sir?"

"How do you mean?"

"Like, measuring time down to the second and analyzing footage for strategy......"

"No. You think I'd do that?"

"Ha, I suppose not, sir?"

"Measuring in whole seconds is too imprecise -- the margin of error would produce unreliable data. You need to go to decimal points."

"Wh-What, sir?"

"If you've been in the habit of measuring in whole seconds, break it."

The color had drained from Zhuge Soyon's face.

The air in the room must have felt chilly to her.

She opened her mouth slowly.

"B-But... Master, you didn't rewind the footage or slow it down -- you watched it at 4x speed. And you're saying you analyzed it to the decimal, sir?"

"What a strange thing to ask. That's basic."

"I... see, sir."

Lee Yeeun leaned over and whispered into Zhuge Soyon's ear.

"The Professor's always been like this. You'll have to get used to it."

I wasn't sure what that was supposed to mean, but if they were going to whisper, they could at least keep it out of earshot.

"Anyway, it's better to dodge around the timing than fight through it head-on. As for the third obstacle, the red seawater......"

That was "Red Tide."

I'd seen it so many times in the game that I already knew the solution, but showing that I knew here would be suspicious, so I played dumb.

"...The intel's insufficient. I'll need to see it firsthand. Let's send in the strike team and investigate the countermeasure more thoroughly."

The claim that intel was insufficient was a lie.

This was a gathering of the world's finest experts.

Releasing information whose source I couldn't disclose wasn't a good move.

"Now let's look at Stage 2. Stage 2 has no minor traps, but the monsters are a cut above. The current strike team's firepower won't be enough."

"Then what do we do, sir?"

"Pool every bit of firepower we can muster. I'll pull the dealers from all three parties and form a new one. The rest will support them."

"Wh-What, sir?"

Zhuge Soyon was shocked. She vehemently objected.

"That's insane! Concentrating all the dealers in one place -- it violates the basic principles of strategy!"

"It's fine. There are no enemies specialized in ranged attacks, so the dealer party won't be exposed to danger."

"B-But in practice, there's always a 'what if.' Shouldn't we at least assign a few tanks......"

"That would be more dangerous. The more bodies in the dealer party, the easier it draws aggro. The melee classes staying far away and pulling aggro is what actually protects the dealers."

"Hah, fine, sir."

Zhuge Soyon looked half-skeptical, but she nodded for now.

Half was because my logic had convinced her; the other half was because she had no alternative.

Zhuge Soyon and I continued discussing the detailed composition.

Lee Yeeun tried chiming in at first, but when she couldn't keep up, she quietly watched from the side.

After quite some time, the strategy was finalized.

CLUNK--

The door opened.

Edelin walked in.

"Professor, it's time for the strike team to depart."

"Understood."

This was where the real thing began.