Chapter 97

Chapter 97: The Desert (1)

Korea's finest Academy, Florian.

A cradle of learning where countless raw gems of talent gathered.

But step onto the world stage, and simply calling Florian the best became difficult.

China's Pierce Academy, for instance.

Pierce Academy was Asia's premier educational institution, ranking among the world's top five.

Some circles even compared Pierce to America's Halo Academy.

Granted, most of those making such comparisons were either Chinese or pro-China, but it was true that Pierce was one of the few academies that could be mentioned in the same breath as Halo.

China was commonly known for a national self-image that cast its people as special.

Put kindly, they had strong patriotism. Put harshly, they were arrogant.

Pierce Academy had culled only the most radiant gems from among the boys and girls already called geniuses in that China—so needless to say, their confidence was through the roof.

That was why I'd been worried on the way to Pierce Academy, but it turned out to be entirely unnecessary.

"...A situation like this is precisely when a commander's judgment matters most. A correct decision can save everyone; the wrong one kills them all. In cases like this, you sacrifice the center's defense and from the flanks......"

The main auditorium.

No, could this place even be called an auditorium?

Nearly the size of a baseball stadium, it was practically a concert hall.

I was standing here, lecturing before ten thousand Pierce Academy students.

The reason I was doing this was to fulfill my promise to President Ju Hyeonsu.

The President had put me on the table and negotiated with China to secure a spot for Korean guilds in the Africa Expedition China was organizing.

China readily agreed, attaching two conditions.

First: I would accompany the expedition.

Second: I would give a one-time guest lecture at Pierce Academy.

I'd worried they'd make more unreasonable demands given it was China, but these were surprisingly easy requests.

There was no reason I couldn't do this much, so I accepted without fuss.

"...If the flanks aren't solid, the formation collapses easily. The tactic of sacrificing the flanks as bait while punching through the center is commonly seen but has an extremely low success rate, so avoid it as much as possible......"

In return, Pierce Academy had selected a concert hall seating ten thousand to squeeze out every last drop of value.

An absurd decision, but it wasn't to my detriment, so I went along with it.

With ten thousand people gathered, questions and interactive discussion were out the window—but that wasn't my problem.

Not the right mindset for an educator, but so what.

"...And that covers the fundamentals of front-line deployment. How you apply these theories is entirely up to you."

That was exactly 120 minutes.

The promised lecture time and my prepared lesson plan were both finished.

After wrapping up, I moved from the concert hall stage to the backstage waiting room.

Lie Xiao and Zhuge Soyon, who'd arrived early, greeted me.

"A truly magnificent lecture. I learn so much from you every time, Professor."

"Pro~fessor! That was so~ cool!"

It was always good to see these two, but today especially so.

Having both of them on this expedition would be immensely reassuring.

"Thank you both for coming."

"Not at all. Hearing your lecture was a bargain for us."

"You haven't been too busy? Lie Xiao is supposed to be China's busiest Hero."

"Mm. I did barely manage to free up the time, yes. I had something to deliver."

"The great me has arrived!"

BANG—!

The waiting room door swung open hard enough to demolish it, and a booming, idiotic voice reverberated.

A familiar face.

China's S-rank Hero and one of Lie Xiao's headaches—Wang Sheng.

Wang Sheng waved broadly as he greeted me.

"Long time no see, Professor."

"The thing you had to deliver was Wang Sheng?"

"Yes. He's been selected as our guild's representative for the Africa Expedition."

Lie Xiao was wearing the most radiant smile I'd ever seen from him.

Meanwhile, my expression was souring by the second.

Wang Sheng was the representative. Lie Xiao was happy about it.

These two pieces of information pointed to a fact I didn't want to believe.

Lie Xiao wasn't coming on this expedition?

And Wang Sheng was coming alone.

The warden was staying home and the inmate was loose? Oh, shit. They expected me to handle this guy?

I take back what I said about the requests being easy.

Those Chinese bastards had played me good and proper.

Classic China. The audacity left me speechless.

"It's going to be a lively expedition."

I sanitized "this expedition is going to be a shitshow" as much as humanly possible.

Lie Xiao just smiled away, scratching at my nerves.

"Yes. Our Sheng may tire people out on occasion, but at heart he's a bright and energetic boy. I'm sure you'll have a wonderful time throughout the journey."

Sure. A wonderful time.

For Lie Xiao, who'd be staying in China after dumping the bomb on me.

God damn it.

This was why you needed to investigate the fine print before signing contracts. I'd been properly swindled.

"And what about Soyon?"

"She was originally scheduled to go, but since the world's greatest tactician is going, the opinion arose that two command towers are unnecessary—so she'll likely stay in China."

Lie Xiao looked regretful the entire time he spoke about Zhuge Soyon.

"However, if you'll allow it, Professor... I could put in a word."

His desperate desire to ship off every headache was palpable.

Zhuge Soyon was a massive headache for Lie Xiao, but she listened to me relatively well—so there was no downside to bringing her along.

In fact, I could pair Zhuge Soyon with Wang Sheng and let the two of them entertain each other.

A rather solid idea. Good—a masterstroke.

"If Soyon wants to come, I'm all for it."

"Really? I want to go!"

Zhuge Soyon had apparently been hoping to come along, because she welcomed my decision.

Lie Xiao's mouth was now practically ascending to the heavens.

"An excellent decision. Both of them will be of tremendous help to you and the expedition, so please make full use of them."

And so our party roster was decided.

Technically it was China's guild party, not ours, but we were all on the same expedition. Whatever.

***

Beijing Hero Association Headquarters.

This was undoubtedly a place where impressive Heroes came and went on any normal day, but today the star power was especially dazzling.

No fewer than four parties—elite squads sent by four guilds representing Northeast Asia—were scheduled to gather here.

"P-please, come in!"

"Thanks."

The guard who saw me, Wang Sheng, and Zhuge Soyon looked like he was about to ask for autographs.

Being an Association staffer, at least he had the professionalism not to commit such an amateur blunder.

"What's this? The great me has arrived—they should be escorting us with more reverence!"

Wang Sheng might be a greenhorn in my eyes, but by civilian standards he was an S-rank Hero, so he wasn't wrong to expect such treatment.

Today, though, the competition was stiff.

Formidable company had already arrived in droves.

Cheongseong—the undisputed number one guild in China, home to Lie Xiao, Wang Sheng, and Zhuge Soyon.

Yeonho—China's mega guild.

Katanaz—Japan's rising new powerhouse.

And lastly, my student's guild—Geumok, one of Korea's Big Three.

I stepped inside the strategy room. Those who'd arrived first were visible.

The Chinese and Korean parties were all already assembled. Japan was nowhere to be seen yet.

Wang Sheng surveyed the room and offered his assessment.

"Heh, this should be fun. Some decent ones in the mix."

Even the arrogant Wang Sheng had to acknowledge the lineup.

Befitting an expedition to raid an S-rank dungeon, every single member was an A-rank Hero or above.

Moreover, the leaders heading each party were S-rank Heroes.

Every Hero assembled here was someone so prominent in their home country that it'd be faster to count those who didn't know them.

And they'd command the same respect in any other nation, too.

"Are we the last ones? How embarrassing."

The Japanese party arrived last, completing the strategy room's roster.

Their leader—an elderly man in a kimono standing at the front—gave a sweeping glance and said.

"Hmph, nothing but minnows."

The expedition roster that even Wang Sheng had acknowledged—the old man called them minnows.

Fierce glares converged on the old man. The killing intent of dozens of high-rank Heroes was chilling enough to reach even me at a distance.

"Is this really all you've got?"

The old man, standing directly under that killing intent, shrugged as if it were nothing.

The message was simple.

The old man's level was that far above.

"Tch, I don't like this. Does Cheongseong look down on Japan and Katanaz? Where's Lie Xiao, and why is it nothing but minnows?"

"What did you say?"

Wang Sheng bristled at the word "minnows."

Knowing Wang Sheng's temper, he'd normally have charged in swinging—but he didn't.

No—he couldn't.

The old man's name was Murakami Kenjiro.

In Korea, if you said "Sword Saint," people thought of Jo Seongung—but in Japan, they thought of Murakami.

Murakami possessed skill worthy of the title.

As proof, he was said to have fought Jo Seongung in his prime to a draw in a sparring match.

While Jo Seongung excelled only in one-on-one combat, Murakami was equally adept in one-vs-many and many-vs-many fights.

Effectively, he was a fighter superior to Jo Seongung.

That I remembered Murakami meant he was a fairly significant NPC in the game.

Beyond his skill, Murakami had an unusual distinction.

He'd been active since before Jo Seongung's career began and had held Japan's number one Hero ranking all the way through the game's ending.

That remarkable longevity had left quite an impression on me.

"And the party you brought by overriding Japan's request for two slots—these Koreans?"

"Grk......!"

The insulting remark made the Geumok contingent bristle, but no one could protest.

The pressure of Murakami's presence had them pinned.

"This won't do. China's holding back all its first-string parties, Korea was a garbage nation to begin with. Are we the only ones pulling our weight? And then you dismiss our requests? Where's the shame? If you're riding the bus, at least pay the fare!"

FWOOSH—!

The presence Murakami unleashed froze the strategy room solid.

It swallowed the killing intent of dozens of Heroes whole, then reversed it to pressure the Chinese and Korean Heroes.

Murakami's party members fidgeted nervously behind him, but no one dared rein him in.

Being monstrously strong and old on top of it made him impossible to handle—naturally.

What to do about this crazy old man.

I hadn't wanted to step in and catch stray bullets, but there was nobody else to delegate the job to.

No choice, then.

Time to play nursing home director.

FWOOSH—!

"......!"

I fired my own killing intent straight at Murakami.

Ordinary killing intent would be useless, just as it had been for the other Heroes—but mine had a little something extra mixed in.

The Talent of Charisma.

While normal killing intent broke through mental walls by brute force, the Talent of Charisma bypassed walls entirely and penetrated the mind directly—a fundamentally different mechanism.

Resisting it required a specialized mental-resistance skill.

Murakami apparently lacked even that, because his emanation wavered.

"Hm!"

A heavy grunt escaped him as his gaze swung to me.

The fact that he was showing interest meant my killing intent had definitely gotten through.

"I thought there was nothing but trash, but perhaps not entirely. You—what's your name?"

"Cha Eunwoo."

"Cha Eunwoo! I've heard the name. I see. So that's why they brought him. Alright, I'll accept that. Now that I look at it, the party that should've given up a spot isn't Korea—it's China!"

Murakami seemed rather pleased by our encounter, laughing heartily.

My voice, on the other hand, had gone ice-cold.

"Mr. Murakami."

"What is it?"

"Kindly shut up and stop killing the mood. If you're the elder among youngsters, at least act your age."

Murakami went blank-faced at my blunt words.

Every other Hero watched us with bated breath.

"BWAHAHA! Now that's a real man! Right—a man should speak his mind. I like you."

Something was clearly off about this guy.

He got cursed out and was happy about it? Psycho geezer.

Those Chinese bastards hadn't just given me the finger—they'd given me the mother of all middle fingers.

Sheng, I'm sorry.

I was worried about babysitting you, but turns out you were nothing.

I needed to massively revise my assessment of this expedition.

This wasn't just going to be a rough road.

I could see a future where the gates of hell opened wide.