The Veteran Player Already Knows

Chapter 135 - Conquest (1)

“...So.”

Catherine said, listlessly waving the paper in her hand.

At the top, it was written as follows.

[ Fill in your height, weight, age, drinking habits, smoking habits, blood type, residence, and occupation. ]

[ Prove that you have no ulterior motives towards the Avatar of the Savior. Describe within 5000 characters. ]

“…”

Good grief.

I subtly lowered my gaze and read the sentence added in small print below it.

[ Of course, just because you have no ulterior motives doesn't mean you can be even slightly rude to the Avatar of the Savior, or you will die immediately♥ ]

“…”

What was this.

What was I supposed to do?

Catherine, who had received it, also had a look of disbelief.

“What on earth is this...?”

“...Actually, I don't really know either.”

Uh. I really didn't know.

It was obvious that Darien had done it, but I had never ordered her to do something like this.

Well, more than that.

“...Ms. Catherine, why did you fill it all out?”

“If they ask me to do something and I don't, wouldn't that be strange in itself?”

“…”

Well.

It felt like it would have been fine even if she had just ignored it and brought it.

This person also seemed to be of a similar kind to Ms. Seo Hye-in.

She was a little less than that person who was like the personification of proper norms, but she was definitely the same in that she had a screw loose.

Why did only people like this flock to me?

“Anyway, that's that. There's something I'd like to ask.”

Hearing Ms. Catherine say that, I straightened up and met her gaze.

“…”

The first thing to check was, of course, friend-or-foe identification, and among them, how threatening this person would be if she betrayed me.

‘First of all...’

If Darien, who had contacted this person, had sent her my way, it would be safe to be relieved to some extent. The reliability was extremely high if the person who could read minds, of all people, had judged that there was ‘no hostile intent.’

In that case, even if this person had something to ask, the scope would be extremely narrow.

“...Are you looking for a backer?”

“The conversation is quick.”

Ms. Catherine answered with a smirk, perhaps feeling good that the conversation was progressing quickly.

It seemed it wasn't far from my prediction. Given the nature of the ordeal where everyone gets nothing if no one occupies the majority, it was a skill to just latch on quietly like the Jeong brothers had already done.

“However, it's not just a backer. I would like you to maintain my control over my zone.”

“...Hmm?”

However, unlike those who had handed over their zone control to me and immediately exited, Ms. Catherine seemed to have something else up her sleeve.

“And the reason for that?”

“I can do a little more for you than just quietly providing you with a zone.”

Ms. Catherine said, pointing to the zone map in the room.

“Are you looking for a skilled field commander? I'm the perfect fit.”

Ms. Catherine said, nodding her head confidently.

Hmm.

Certainly, this person had both the track record and the skill to say something like this.

That being said...

“I don't need one.”

“...Pardon?”

“I can do everything by myself, so why would I?”

“…”

No, what on earth was this person talking about?

It seemed she had erased from her memory the fact that I had grabbed the others by the scruff of their necks and broken through the demonic beast wave all by myself in the second ordeal.

A superior field commander? Are you confident you can do better than me?

“B-but that was just a localized small-scale engagement. Even for you, controlling all the variables in a large-scale battlefield-”

Ms. Catherine quickly shut her mouth.

It was probably because she saw my face, smiling from ear to ear.

Oh my.

She could say that even after seeing that.

Then just how much should I show her?

“...Shall we give it a try. Then.”

Ms. Catherine approached the tactical map with a slightly provoked expression.

It seemed she had learned how to operate it by watching me; after a few skillful turns, the map changed to show all the zones in the entire ordeal.

“Let's simulate a story about the ‘conquest plan’ you're thinking of, Mr. Kim Gyu-sik, and my plan. If you're that confident, this should be simple, right?”

“…”

As soon as I heard that, I looked at Ms. Catherine with a worried expression.

“Hmm? What is it? Did you finally realize that you were saying something too unreasonable?”

“No. I'm worried about you.”

“...Pardon?”

It reminded me of the old days.

There was a time when I had a bloody battle that lasted for a full 70 hours on the Conqueror forum.

The trigger was a discussion about what the ‘optimal 3rd Ordeal conquest method’ was.

Was it something like, if they followed the optimal conquest route they had discovered during their playtime, clearing this ridiculously dirty stage wouldn't be difficult?

From my perspective, it wasn't a very efficient route, so I had nitpicked here and there.

[ But isn't this better than that? ]

[ lol did you play this game more than me? lol ]

[ ? show me your playtime. ]

Looking back now, I remember it as a profile reveal that had the solemnity of a blue corner fighter's entrance / red corner fighter's entrance.

It was me, all alone. My opponents were three fledglings whose combined playtime didn't even reach 50,000 hours.

Compared to me, who had reached 60,000 hours of Conqueror alone, they were nothing but a handful of dust.

The result.

Those three, who prided themselves on being top-tier veterans, after a 70-hour-long slaughter.

I wiped them all out.

They were all annihilated.

And to me, you dare.

To request a 1-on-1 debate?

“I'm not taking responsibility.”

Yes.

I was serious.

***

“...Oh my.”

“Hmm? What's wrong, birdbrain?”

“So who's the birdbrain... no, putting that aside. I saw something terrible as soon as I entered the room.”

Seo Ah-in said, looking down at Ms. Catherine, who was staring blankly into the air in the corner, with a pitiful expression.

Her vacant gaze was filled with a look that seemed to almost deny the world.

“Hmm, she's been thoroughly messed up by Mr. Kim Gyu-sik. It will take at least a week for a complete mental recovery...”

“…”

I was dumbfounded, seeing her muttering like a doctor who had discovered a patient.

Where on earth did that conviction come from?

“No, but as Mr. Kim Gyu-sik's number one punching bag, I can tell just by looking! Because I've been hit the most!”

“…”

Seeing her puff out her chest with an ‘ahem,’ well.

What should I say to this...

“Stockholm syndrome?”

“…”

I glared at Darien, who muttered that.

“Ah, I'm fine no matter how much the Avatar of the Savior torments me.”

“I won't torment you.”

I sighed and approached Ms. Catherine.

“Ms. Catherine. Don't be so disheartened.”

“I'm... a maggot... a vermin... trash with a hole in my brain...”

“That's enough. I'll acknowledge your control over the zone, so please run a few errands for me.”

“...You'll acknowledge my control? For trash like me?”

“…”

Hmm.

This was serious.

“I don't need a field commander, but there was something I wanted to ask of you.”

For a blacksmith, a ‘good fire’ was an essential asset, no different from a necessity.

This was true even for the dwarves of the Conqueror world, who could build a fully automatic mechanized army.

“...Pardon? I can't imagine the blacksmiths here using bellows or furnaces.”

Well, that was true.

If they had the technology to create a virtual map with 4D experience, it was a different feeling from a classic blacksmith.

But you know.

“The ‘fire’ provided by the Scorching Mountain Range is a little different from that.”

For advanced blacksmiths, it was enough to provide them with a correspondingly fearsome fire.

Then they would be able to create something quite... ‘useful’ in Phase 3.

Something that contained the secret techniques and long-cherished wish of Master Crawford.

“There's something I want to entrust to your supervision.”

I said with a grin to Ms. Catherine, who was looking this way gloomily.

“It's probably a terribly dangerous job. I thought it would be quite difficult if it wasn't for the competent Ms. Catherine.”

“...Competent? Me?”

“Of course.”

Seo Ah-in, who was watching Ms. Catherine's expression brighten slightly from the side, looked at me with an almost horrified expression.

“He's already preparing the groundwork...?”

“…”

Please.

Stop saying strange things.

“More than that…”

If I entrusted that side to Ms. Catherine, the things I had to do were also set.

‘First of all...’

Phase 3 would probably open when one person's number of occupied zones started to exceed 10.

From then on, the ordeal would truly become a chaotic mess. It meant that if you weren't well-prepared in Phase 2, you would be filtered out as soon as you entered.

‘In that respect...’

From my position, having occupied the Tribe of Natives' Forest, the Mana Vein, and the Scorching Mountain Range, the progress was quite smooth for now.

In my optimal conquest method, which had previously annihilated even the other three top-tier veterans, these three zones were almost essential elements.

In other words.

It meant that it was time to embark on a full-scale ‘conquest activity.’

***

“Still, don't you think that's going a bit too far?”

Darien tilted her head and looked at the birdbrain... no, at Seo Ah-in.

She was in the middle of refuting the conspiracy theory-like thing this woman had just brought up.

“No matter what, the age gap between those two is too much, isn't it? Isn't Catherine, or whatever her name is... well over thirty now?”

“No, we should consider Mr. Kim Gyu-sik's preference, not age.”

Seo Ah-in brought up a rebuttal with a serious expression.

“Preference?”

“Have you ever seen Mr. Kim Gyu-sik say what type he likes?”

“...I've never seen the Avatar of the Savior say it directly, have I?”

“Then what about the possibility that he has an extreme preference for older women, and Ms. Catherine, who happened to be there, hit his strike zone directly?”

“…”

Hmm.

Hearing it, it was a logically quite correct statement. Darien, who was on the other side of the communication, nodded with a solemn expression.

Thinking about it again, vanguard-type climbers all aged slowly, but Catherine was among those who were very well-maintained. At a glance, she could pass for her late 20s.

“Then, shall we have a truce for now and bury her together?”

“...No, that's going too far.”

Seo Ah-in sighed and drew her sword.

It was because the ‘transport ship’ prepared by the dwarves had just given an announcement that it would soon arrive at its destination.

My goodness. I thought the inside of the tower at least adhered to a fantasy world setting to some extent. A transport ship that would pop out of nowhere in a sci-fi setting.

While others were just now worrying about recruiting and deploying troops, he was using cheat codes all by himself again. Was it not for nothing that he had occupied this place first?

“For now, shall we quickly finish our respective tasks? We need to show that we're competent to win Mr. Kim Gyu-sik's favor, after all.”

“Hmm. That's right, isn't it?”

“...I don't think we'll have much to do, though.”

She looked down at the zone below the transport ship with a pitiful gaze.

When Mr. Kim Gyu-sik did something ‘seriously.’

It meant that someone was about to be nonchalantly crushed by him.

Seo Ah-in, who saw the ‘soldiers’ nearby, placed her hand on her forehead with a limp motion.

Well.

What on earth did a person have to eat and live on to think of something like this?

“Hmm. To those of you down there.”

She slightly cupped her hands and prayed.

“Please, do your best.”

With those last words.

From the sky, a disaster fell.