Chapter 69

Chapter 69: The Raid (4)

The final stage loomed.

Jo Seongung stared at the Gate with a steely expression.

Memories rose in his mind like paintings.

Jo Seongung's nightmare.

The memory of Dragon's Roost.

'Seonbeom, are you confident?'

'Of course. I'm going to surpass you on this expedition.'

'Pfft, you? Talking out of your ass.'

Back then, Jo Seongung had secretly looked down on Baek Seonbeom.

The two had become S-rank Heroes around the same time, but Baek Seonbeom was the lowest-ranked S at ninth, while Jo Seongung sat at fourth.

Everyone said Jo Seongung was the more talented Hero.

Jo Seongung hadn't even considered competing with Baek Seonbeom.

'I'm not someone who should be stuck at a mere S-rank fourth. This is my chance to prove my worth.'

With that mindset, Jo Seongung had set out on the expedition.

Not just Jo Seongung -- countless Heroes shared that same foolish thinking.

Even the top-ranked Heroes who were supposed to lead the expedition felt the same.

That was why the expedition lacked both discipline and a proper chain of command.

But with 500 S-rank Heroes assembled, there was a vague belief that things would work out somehow.

That flimsy belief was betrayed before long.

'Dark Wyverns from the very first stage?'

'Seven with serious injuries.'

'Damn, the difficulty's this bad?'

The walls of the SS-rank dungeon were far higher than anticipated.

Even knowing things had gone wrong, the expedition refused to admit it.

'Don't chicken out. Push forward!'

'Yeah! We can do this!'

The first death occurred on the first stage. By the fifth stage, minor and major injuries had piled up to fifty. And still they believed they could do it.

They came to their senses on the eighth stage -- the mid-boss chamber.

-- GRRRAAAWWW--!

The Dragon Slayer.

A dragon with a body the size of a mountain and pitch-black flesh.

The master of the Roost roared.

It was later discovered that it had only been the Dragon Slayer's offspring.

'A monster, a monster......'

'How are we supposed to kill that?!'

The expedition despaired.

By the time more than half had sustained injuries just to defeat a mere mid-boss, humanity had no choice but to acknowledge it.

They had faced a crisis of human survival.

That was the terror of the SS-rank dungeon as Jo Seongung remembered it.

A wall impossibly high.

An incarnation of despair that taught humanity how powerless it was.

But Cha Eunwoo's expedition was different.

The current expedition was stronger than ever.

The coward from back then was gone too.

The Jo Seongung of today had the confidence that he could do anything.

"Seonbeom... watch over me."

***

-- Entered the final stage!

-- Boss monster sighted ahead!

An enormous creature appeared on the screen.

Not merely enormous -- immensely enormous.

Could that thing even be called a living creature?

The screen couldn't properly capture even a portion of the boss monster's body.

"Ugh, what is that thing? I can't even figure out where to start."

Zhuge Soyon stared at the screen with a look of horror.

It looked like a mix between a shark and a whale.

The identity of that colossal monster was the Hyper Megalodon.

A boss famous for being the single largest monster in the game.

Body length: a staggering 1 kilometer.

-- GROOOAAAWRR!

The Hyper Megalodon roared.

Then small bubble-like objects erupted from its back in droves.

"Small" was relative to the Megalodon, of course -- each bubble was larger than several people.

"Everyone, abandon the destroyers and scatter!"

The Heroes dispersed at my command.

The bubbles fell from above like torrential rain.

The Heroes had gotten clear a step ahead, but the destroyers that stayed in place were all crushed to pieces.

-- That'd hurt pretty bad if it hit you.

-- Professor, is it okay that all the destroyers are destroyed?

"It's fine. The destroyers were just transport. Now that we've reached the boss stage, having them or not doesn't matter."

The Hyper Megalodon was so massive that it had no means of pinpointing and attacking the tiny Heroes.

Instead, it relied on repeated wide-area skills to harass them.

Fast and powerful, but with simple patterns -- proper responses were what mattered.

"Party 1, burst for 14 seconds!"

Party 1 launched an all-out attack.

But it didn't deal meaningful damage.

No matter how strong an S-rank Hero was, leaving a mark on that colossal creature wasn't easy.

After sustained attacks, the Hyper Megalodon's gaze turned toward Party 1.

"End the burst after the mage's Fire Lance! Everyone fall back!"

As Party 1 retreated, the Hyper Megalodon opened its jaws wide.

Teeth fired from its mouth like missiles, shooting toward where Party 1 had been.

BOOOOOM--!

An absurdly fast attack for its massive bulk.

And powerful, too -- if they hadn't evaded beforehand, everyone would've been mangled.

"Party 2, burst!"

Party 2, positioned on the opposite side from Party 1, launched their attack.

Taking advantage of the aggro being drawn to the other side, Party 2 dealt damage effectively.

Then the Hyper Megalodon's attention swung to the opposite side.

"Drop aggro again. Party 3, your turn!"

The Hyper Megalodon possessed formidable defense and offensive capabilities, but its reactions were slow and its patterns were simple.

That was why the standard strategy was to whittle down its health little by little through repeated aggro ping-pong.

It sounded easy, but in practice it was anything but.

Controlling aggro at will required dealing sufficient damage and pulling out at exactly the right moment, demanding split-second calculations with perfect precision.

The slightest mistake meant an instant party wipe, so both Zhuge Soyon and I had to maintain peak concentration the entire time.

"Next, Party 4!"

It was a contest between the Hyper Megalodon's health pool and my concentration.

Whoever hit empty first would lose.

In the game, there had been some degree of adjustment to keep the fight from dragging too long.

On top of that, attack timing could be eyeballed through effects, eliminating the need for precise calculations.

But reality was different.

From here on, game knowledge and special talents couldn't help me.

The battle of willpower against myself had begun.

***

"Hah... hah..."

"Hang in there. Shift change is coming soon."

The battle against the Hyper Megalodon was grueling and tedious.

The Heroes who'd started with burning enthusiasm found their bodies and minds wearing down as the hours dragged past.

Hammering away at a monster that seemed to take no damage despite going all out was profoundly exhausting.

Lie Xiao said,

"At least we get to rotate. The one who has it hardest is the Professor."

Half a day had already flown by.

Yet Cha Eunwoo had been maintaining concentration alone from the very start, commanding every single party.

Zhuge Soyon assisted from the side, but that was only sub-orders at best.

All the burden and fatigue fell on Cha Eunwoo's shoulders alone.

"The real monster might not be that shark-whale but that man."

"How can a human stay sane doing that?"

When a person poured every ounce of concentration over a long period, the body was bound to give out.

Cha Eunwoo was no exception.

He was already drained, cold sweat running down his body, his voice trembling.

That he could still command from that seat was purely because he was holding on through sheer willpower.

"Just a little more. We're almost there."

"Right. That monster's looking like it's on its last legs too."

At first, no matter how many attacks they poured in, the Hyper Megalodon hadn't budged.

But the minor wounds piled up one by one, and before they knew it, its body was growing tattered.

Now, large wounds were visible here and there.

-- Alright, let's land the finishing blow.

"The finishing blow?"

-- Yes. Professor Jo, can I leave this to you?

"I'll repay that trust without fail."

Jo Seongung had believed himself to be a strong man.

He'd thought he could overcome any hardship and adversity.

But when terror consumed his body, he couldn't do a thing.

'S-Seonbeom! We have to run, run!'

'No. If we fall back, it's all over!'

'Please, please......!'

'Seongung, you stay there! You're far stronger than someone like me. So live! Live, and hunt the Dragon Slayer!'

'No, no...... There's no way I can......'

'You can. So please, survive.'

The reason Jo Seongung had survived Dragon's Roost was because he was a coward.

The SS-rank dungeon was a merciless place.

The bravest Heroes died first, in order, and only the cowards survived.

But what about now?

In Cha Eunwoo's expedition, everyone was valiant and everyone had survived.

Because they were braver than the Heroes of the past?

No.

They, too, were human beings who feared death.

What they had was the belief that they wouldn't die -- that they would succeed.

And the one holding the torch of that hope was, as always, Cha Eunwoo.

Because Cha Eunwoo was there, they could fight.

-- GYAAAAAAH--!

The Hyper Megalodon roared.

It was an overwhelming pressure, like being reunited with the Dragon Slayer he'd once faced.

Back then, he'd been paralyzed with fear and had run.

But now, watching the back of the giant named Cha Eunwoo, he felt courage surge within him.

Jo Seongung drew Jeivult and murmured.

"Ah, this heavy feel. It's been so long."

[Same here. Seongung always grips me in just the right spots. Ahhhn~.]

Once called the strongest when it came to single-target combat -- that was Jo Seongung.

His blade pointed at the battered Hyper Megalodon.

From Jeivult, a Sword Energy dozens of meters long erupted forth.

-- KEEEEEK!

The Hyper Megalodon's aggro shifted.

The boss monster's sophisticated detection organs judged Jo Seongung as the most threatening entity in that instant and locked on.

-- Initiating full assault. Parties 1 through 10, hit the front. Everyone else, surround it flexibly from all sides.

When the Heroes who'd been playing hit-and-run all charged in together, the Hyper Megalodon was thrown into confusion.

'Which one is the most dangerous?'

It needed to respond, but with aggro pulling from every direction, its targeting vanished for a single moment.

"Now!"

The massive Sword Energy Jo Seongung unleashed embedded itself in the Hyper Megalodon's forehead.

It was a spot where Heroes had already inflicted deep wounds from repeated attacks.

-- KIEEEEEEK--!

The Hyper Megalodon screamed from the agony that descended upon it.

Its mana-infused shriek dealt devastating damage to everyone who heard it.

But not a single person retreated. They resisted with everything they had.

"Be gone!"

SLASH--!

Jo Seongung drove Jeivult deeper with enough force to split a mountain and swung.

Then the body of the Hyper Megalodon -- which had seemed like it would never fall -- began to split apart.

-- KIEEEEEK--!

The Hyper Megalodon thrashed its body in a final death throe, but the Heroes would not allow it.

The master of the SS-rank dungeon met a futile death without ever unleashing its full might upon the world.

"YAAAAAH!"

"We did it!"

Jo Seongung simply laughed.

It felt like waking from a long, long dream.

Cha Eunwoo said,

-- In the name of the expedition's Supreme Commander: we did it. We are victorious!

Without anyone leading, everyone cheered together.

Time spent slaying the Hyper Megalodon: 8 hours 41 minutes.

Total time to clear the Pacific Dungeon: 8 days.

Numerous injured.

Fewer than 10 with serious injuries.

Zero deaths.

A resounding victory nobody had predicted.

***

The Pacific Dungeon raid had ended in success.

Far faster than even I had anticipated.

S-rank Heroes really were something else.

Quick work! Overwhelming performance! And a mountain of experience points on top of it all.

"Wow."

-- Mentor's effect activates. A small amount of experience acquired. (Target: Lie Xiao)

-- Mentor's effect activates. A small amount of experience acquired. (Target: Christian)

-- Mentor's effect activates. A small amount of experience acquired. (Target: John Dickell)

.

.

.

I tried counting the system windows that appeared through the Mentor skill, then gave up.

Not one or two, but hundreds of messages had appeared -- too many to count.

They said "small amount," but this was experience earned from S-rank Heroes.

A small amount by S-rank standards, maybe, but for me -- someone who'd been earning experience from students -- it was an experience point baptism beyond description.

"This is absolutely insane."

I could feel power surging just by standing still.

The stats were one thing, but the skills gained from them were incredible too.

At this point, my stats alone were comparable to an A-rank Hero.

Add my broken skills on top of that......

Could I beat an easy S-rank Hero like Wang Sheng?

...Probably not.

No matter how easy Wang Sheng seemed, he was still S-rank.

There was a saying that the gap between A-rank and S-rank was as vast as the gap between F-rank and A-rank.

I was still far from reaching the realm of S-rank Heroes.

Good news arrived from the Unicorn side I'd dispatched to handle SH as well.

-- Professor, SH has been taken care of.

As if to prove Edelin's words, a message appeared.

The contents were deeply satisfying.

---------

> Second Scenario cleared.

-- Grattun Banished (1/1)

> A mythical achievement has been reached.

-- Evil God Banished (1/1)

> A legendary achievement has been reached.

-- SS-rank Dungeon Cleared (1/1)

---------

As I'd expected, an Evil God had been entangled with SH.

Without one, there was no way SH could have done that to America.

Grattun.

An Evil God stronger than Bonibatus, the one we'd encountered last time.

Originally in the game, Unicorn alone couldn't have defeated it, but since it too had appeared early, it would've carried significant penalties.

"Well done. The dungeon ended successfully as well."

-- As I thought... inviting you, Professor, was the best decision of this entire expedition.

As Edelin said, without my help, the expedition would have failed.

Had that happened, an even harsher future would have awaited humanity.

The failure of the SS-rank dungeon raid and America's collapse.

The game's tone shifted drastically from that point onward.

Before then, the player attended lectures at the Academy, completed simple assignments, and learned the controls.

But after America's collapse, the entire world suffered an acute Hero shortage.

To fill the void left by dead S-rank Heroes, countless Heroes were deployed in their place, and to fill those gaps, even more lower-ranked Heroes were thrown in.

Eventually, even Academy students were deployed to the front lines, fighting desperately to protect humanity.

On top of that, the relationships between the player and the NPC characters changed in numerous ways.

The Academy during the prologue had felt much like the present -- a youthful coming-of-age story set in a peaceful atmosphere.

But after America's collapse, problems erupted one after another and the NPCs' circumstances shifted dramatically.

An Seri -- the cunning little devil.

She would face an assassination attempt while fighting her brother An Sehyeon over the Guild Master position.

An Seri had hated An Sehyeon, but at the very least, she'd recognized him as family.

That was precisely why her only brother trying to kill her left a deep trauma.

As a result, An Seri became an emotionless sociopath.

Seo Dayun -- timid on the surface, but someone who rose to the occasion when it mattered.

Seo Dayun possessed talent surpassing anyone else's.

Nobody recognized it at first, but as her abilities gradually blossomed, numerous guilds set their sights on her.

Eventually, the last of Korea's three great guilds -- Shinwha Guild -- resorted to dirty backroom dealings to recruit her.

As a result, Seo Dayun developed aphasia.

Baek Seolhwa -- awkward with people, but warm at heart.

Most people avoided Baek Seolhwa, but not everyone.

Someday, she would meet her one and only friend.

But it was a false relationship.

That person never considered Baek Seolhwa a friend.

It was a relationship begun solely to exploit a talented Hero.

When it eventually fell apart in the most tragic way possible, Baek Seolhwa would develop a deep distrust of all people.

Lee Yeeun -- bright in all things and always giving her best.

Her father was an NIS agent.

One day, her father vanished.

Lee Yeeun was certain it was connected to his work and resolved to become an NIS agent herself.

After years of effort, she earned her doctorate, became an agent, and confronted the ugly truth.

Lee Yeeun would join SH to avenge her father.

And then there were my other beloved students.

Each of them, too, had predetermined tragedies waiting.

As the story progressed, forced events would leave both the player and the characters ravaged.

In this malice-filled, goddamn game, there was no such thing as a happy ending.

Once the prologue ended, the children would lose what made them human.

But now things were different.

I had already twisted the game's story multiple times.

The appearance of Bonibatus. Baek Seolhwa's new skill. Preventing America's collapse.

This was not a game but a real world where people lived and breathed.

Events that were unchangeable no matter what you did in the game -- I could alter them however I wished, depending on my resolve.

Edelin said,

-- Professor, let me ask one more time. Won't you consider joining Unicorn?

The children I'd grown too attached to.

I wanted to protect their smiles.

"I'm sorry."

My answer was the same as before.

What I needed to do, where I needed to be -- it was already decided.

It was time to return to the Academy.