The Veteran Player Already Knows

Chapter 142 - Climax (2)

"...So, what's the reason I've been called now?"

The Guild Master in front of me looked at me with a cynical gaze.

What was this. Déjà vu?

I think the reaction was exactly the same when I called Ms. Seo Hye-in.

"Can't a person be called a little late?"

"Why not just finish it without calling me at all. From what I saw on the broadcast, you seem like you could go all the way on your own."

Watching her grumble like that, I could be sure.

She was pouting.

"...Why are people who are old enough to know better all like this?"

"Well, look at you. You're not even trying to placate me."

"Why should I."

I said, running a hand through my hair with a gesture full of exhaustion.

"I'm a bit tired too, so give me a break..."

No, really.

Lately, it had become a common occurrence for the tension to amplify to a strange degree when the other female members were together.

If even a relatively sensible person like Lee Si-yeong became strange, I really didn't have the confidence to handle it.

"..."

As I was thinking that, Lee Si-yeong in front of me placed her hands on her hips and stuck her head out.

In that state, she stared intently into my eyes.

"What."

"No, I was just thinking that you do show a weak side too. Your expression looks a bit more human."

"Well, I'm human too. It can happen."

"The other guys probably wouldn't agree. You, a human?"

"..."

What was I supposed to do?

I looked back at her with a sullen gaze, but Lee Si-yeong herself stepped back with a satisfied smirk.

What was that.

What was she so happy about to show such a reaction? I was just a little annoyed and snapped at her.

"You just haven't shown that side to the other guys, have you?"

"What?"

"I thought so. For some reason, the thought that you only show your weak side to me makes me feel a bit-"

The girl, who was about to speak with a somewhat smug look, quickly shut her mouth as if she had snapped back to her senses.

The nape of her neck was strangely red.

"...There's something like that. Anyway!"

Lee Si-yeong, who had been flailing as if to blow away the heat inside her body, soon cleared her throat and changed the subject.

"Considering your personality, you probably called me because there's something I absolutely have to do for you right now. Am I right?"

"Exactly."

Once we entered the final phase, there was nothing special, it was just an all-out war.

It was a feeling of being comprehensively evaluated on what had been accumulated in the ordeal so far, like which side had formed a better combination, and how well they could command it with superior leadership skills.

And in that kind of all-out war, a mage who could pump out powerful attack spells was the perfect environment to shine.

"Huh, what. You really called me for such a standard reason...?"

"Well, of course. The most important thing in war is wide-area firepower projection, you punk."

In that sense, the one who could most closely mimic that role in this game was the mage.

With that thought, I activated the holographic map.

Now that we had entered the final phase, conquering zones was no longer very meaningful.

It would probably devolve into a two-way battle between me, the first-place holder, and Lancester, the second-place holder.

Then the ordeal would change from a progression method of trying to conquer as wide an area as possible to a completely new method.

A survival game of whose head would fly off first.

Damian probably noticed this right away, and if so, there was only one thing he would do.

"He'll build a fortress and hole up in it."

Considering his personality, it was a natural course of action.

He had lost quite a few of his zones to me, so it meant he would devise a plan in a safe place until an opportunity for a proper counterattack arose.

Yeah, no way.

Once you gain an advantage, ruthlessly crushing the opponent is also a virtue.

"...Wait a minute."

"This isn't just that you need a mage, you're planning to use me as a 'mana supply,' aren't you?"

"It's similar, right?"

At least around me, this was the only person who was smart enough and good enough at handling mana to do the job there accurately and quickly.

"...Should I call it practical, or should I say you have no respect for magic..."

This is a high-level discipline that only a select few can learn. Do you know that?

I shrugged at the grumbling Lee Si-yeong and replied.

"Then do you want to switch roles with Evangeline and Ms. Meirin?"

"What are their roles?"

Instead of answering, I operated the holographic map and simulated the 'next stage' after a successful attack on Lancester.

That is.

Exactly what kind of 'tragedy' would occur.

"..."

Lee Si-yeong's face, who saw that, immediately hardened.

"Is this... for real?"

"Of course it's real."

The Knight of the Southern Yellow was also a guy whose grudges were absolutely insane.

He was probably plotting all sorts of things to get revenge on me for crushing him and sending him back before.

And if my prediction was correct, what appeared as a result was the scene I had just shown Lee Si-yeong.

"And I'll use Evangeline and Ms. Meirin like this."

I operated the map one more time and showed her the scene.

"...You insane..."

At this, Lee Si-yeong looked at me with a gaze that asked if I was even a human being.

What.

I couldn't think of a more appropriate use for them than this.

"It's probably better to just do what you asked for now, right?"

"..."

Well.

At least from her silent nod, it seemed I had succeeded in convincing her.

***

"Phew..."

Damian Lancester let out a sigh of relief as he looked at the fortress he had expanded by investing all his remaining points.

Although he had lost many zones to Kim Gyu-sik, it was clear that a fortress built with his excellent strategic insight in this naturally fortified area called the 'canyon' would at least buy him a lot of time.

Damian was arrogant, but he was by no means a fool. In a situation like this, where his conquest rate was far behind Kim Gyu-sik's, it was time for even him to lie low for a while.

‘...That bastard.’

Damian gritted his teeth as he recalled Kim Gyu-sik's face.

That guy was the first one to ever inflict this much humiliation on him.

If a situation arose where he regained the upper hand and could cut that guy's throat, he would certainly not grant him a peaceful death.

First, that guy would definitely come to attack this fortress at least once. The top priority would be to counterattack at that time and reduce the opponent's strength as much as possible.

If that failed, he would retreat a little further...

‘...Wait a minute.’

Was he thinking of 'failure' right now?

He, a member of the glorious Lancester family, of all people?

Startled by his own thoughts, Damian shook his head to clear the distracting thoughts from his mind.

Impossible.

He was a superhuman, the top predator of all humanity, and one of the EX-rank Climbers who sat at the pinnacle of even the society of superhumans.

For such a person to be so concerned about some bug-like guy who had only just begun to rise in stock was simply absurd!

‘But what if I lose this time too?’

That thought.

Suddenly sprang up in Damian's mind, who had been trying so hard to convince himself.

Along with the feeling that all the words he had said to reassure himself were disappearing like a mirage, the face of Kim Gyu-sik, who had been smiling triumphantly right in front of him not long ago, came to mind.

He had lost twice. To the same person.

Both times, he had been completely toyed with and defeated without being able to even put up a proper fight.

And.

As soon as he properly recognized that fact in his mind, an emotion he had never felt before in his life bloomed in Damian's mind.

He himself couldn't properly explain what it was, but anyone other than him, who had lived his whole life as an arrogant person, would have been able to quickly identify what it was.

This was.

Fear.

"..."

Realizing that his hands were trembling, Lancester's face turned pale.

It wasn't that he was terrified, but because he realized that the opponent was some kind of 'alien being' to the extent that he was making him experience this emotion for the first time in his life.

What on earth.

Was that man.

To make him fall into this state just by thinking of him.

-!

-!!

And while he was having those thoughts, the sound of something exploding echoed loudly in Damian's ears.

The sound of something 'pounding' on the fortress he was currently in. A subsequent roar and vibration.

"This is...!"

He knew instinctively.

That guy was here.

He had come to get him.

"...I won't go down without a fight...!"

Even in the torrent of murky emotions that were whitening his mind, Damian, who had bolstered his own pride, gripped the hilt of his sword.

The simulation was already over. At least this fortress would withstand that guy's attack to some extent.

This fortress was a masterpiece he had created by thinking of all the optimal combinations and defensive structures he could come up with.

That's what he thought.

For exactly 3 minutes.

***

"334. 114. 117, three shots. 662. 332. 115, two shots. Got it?"

"...Mmm."

Hearing my words, Lee Si-yeong nodded soullessly and wrote down a spell in front of the 'mana cannon' and inserted it.

Solidified mana was loaded into it, and it flew off with a whooshing, deflating sound.

But the spell that soon reached Lancester's fortress caused a huge explosion and created a massive vibration.

Hmm.

This was the result of using the Dwarf-specialty mana cannon.

Of course, it wasn't just because the equipment was good, but because I was coaching this girl on where and how to strike for the best effect.

Well, it was obvious how that guy would construct his fortress. I could find its weak points with my eyes closed without the Observation skill.

Like a spotter, I would give her the coordinates with binoculars, and she would create a solidified mana projectile, insert it, and fire.

Hmm. A good combo. A good example of the fusion of mana and science—

"Hey, no..."

As I was nodding my head in satisfaction, Lee Si-yeong looked back at me with narrowed eyes.

"No matter how grand you make it sound, this is just shooting a mortar with mana, isn't it? Should a high-class talent like a mage be doing something like this?"

"Do you know how hard that is? Huh?"

Seo Ah-in would be good at mana control but would never be able to calculate the impact point, Ms. Seo Hye-in could do the calculation but her mana control would be lacking, and Darien... let's not even talk about her.

Anyway, the only person who could do this was this girl.

I was glad I called her.

"...In the first place, why are just the two of us out here shooting this unimpressive mortar when you have a mountain of formidable troops?"

"Because this is enough, right?"

It was better to save as much of the other 'main force' as possible to prepare for the subsequent event that would happen after this.

Damian's fortress could be dealt with quickly just by the two of us shooting like this, so why bother with the rest?

"..."

Lee Si-yeong suddenly looked at Damian's fortress, which was continuously being destroyed every time she fired a mana barrage, with a guilty gaze.

No.

Why were you looking at it with such sad eyes?

"It's just, I feel sorry for him, even if he's the enemy."

"Huh?"

"That guy inside must have racked his brain with all his might, steeled his resolve, and even made a vow, saying, 'This time, I'll really screw you over!' right? But to erase a building imbued with that person's will with something like this..."

Lee Si-yeong inserted another solidified mana projectile into the cannon with a sorrowful look.

The mana barrage, fired with a plop, once again collided with the fortress, and the outer wall was shaved off with incredible force.

"...wiping it away with a peashooter like this. It feels kind of wrong..."

Yes. It was what I always said at times like this.

If you don't like it, tell him to become a top-tier veteran.