Sol Squad. Annihilated?!
Seowoon and Juriel looked at each other as they checked the map.
"We’re less than a day’s distance away."
At Seowoon’s words, Juriel nodded with a stiff expression.
"The next objective is probably the buff mob, so it’s better to widen the gap."
Currently, the squad’s position was roughly halfway between the buff monster and the boss monster.
If Namsagwang moved in a straight line toward the buff monster, they might have the misfortune of crossing paths—an unlucky position indeed.
Kaite, who had been silent all this ti, frowned openly and voiced his discontent.
"We’ve finally started farming after so long, and now we’re changing our route again? I question whether running from a possible enemy is really the right thing to do."
It wasn’t surprising that complaints were surfacing—after all, they had just finished ten days of trudging through the forest and outskirts, and villages were only now beginning to appear. Suddenly changing routes again would naturally frustrate people.
Proof of that was in the mages, who normally would’ve chided him, silently agreeing instead.
But Juriel wasn’t about to change her mind.
Whether it was farming or hunting, nothing was more important than survival.
Even if they had backup plans in place, the best outco was surviving in peak condition.
"Our opponent is far stronger than we are. If there’s even a slight chance we might encounter them, then avoiding that risk is the obvious choice."
As the players fell silent, Kaite, sensing the squad’s mood, wasn’t ready to back down.
"What are the odds that a powerful enemy would move toward the buff mob and cross paths with us in this vast map? And what’s the basis for assuming they’re even heading for the buff mob?"
"Exactly. Assuming the one who killed the boss monster will now go for the buff mob seems a bit much..."
"I think it’s risky to jump to conclusions and end up sabotaging ourselves."
"There really isn’t enough basis for predicting the enemy’s movent. If we stick to our original path, there are over 20 villages ahead. Even farming just half of them... It’s true we’ve fallen behind in farming. If this continues, we might end up helplessly crushed at a critical mont."
The warriors stayed quiet, but the mages each voiced their opinions, all in favor of farming.
This difference stemd from cultural gaps between the two worlds—the standard by which they envisioned an overwhelming enemy differed.
The mont the warriors imagined soone drawing out qi and mowing down enemies, cold sweat ran down their backs.
In contrast, those from this world who hadn’t seen it firsthand simply pictured a strong Sword Emperor.
Whether they had lightly learned martial arts or not, they ca from different worlds, and since they hadn’t encountered a warrior who could draw out aura, this kind of reaction was only natural.
As a result, the intimidating image of the unseen enemy began to fade and blur.
Would they really run into him? And even if they did, surely they could escape sohow...
Juriel could understand this complacent thinking.
But understanding didn’t an agreeing.
"If there’s even a one-in-a-thousand risk that we can avoid, then there’s no reason to push it. We’re changing course."
The mages who had each spoken up now had sour expressions.
And Kaite wasn’t going to miss the opportunity.
"This is tyranny! Even if you’re from the Ronis family, this isn’t right!"
Had this been the real world and not Cloyd, a re knight like Kaite would never have dared to speak to soone from the Ronis family like this.
Watching the conflict unfold between Juriel and Kaite, Seowoon shook his head.
"What a ss. To think they’re shaken by such minor incitent."
Seowoon stepped into the tense air between the two sides.
"Senior brother."
As he calmly walked forward and stood at the center, Seowoon called out to Jinryung, who turned his gaze to him.
Not just Jinryung—everyone’s attention shifted to Seowoon.
"Speak."
"What do you think our odds are if our squad fights against that man, Namsagwang?"
Though not a formal squad mber, Jinryung answered without hesitation.
"Not even one percent."
-!!!
The mages and knights, including Kaite, looked at him in disbelief.
"Right. Then what if we try to escape from him? How many do you think would survive?"
"Probably fewer than five."
"You all heard that, didn’t you?"
The mages fell silent.
They had heard how Jinryung’s squad was wiped out and he alone survived, but had thought they were different.
They believed that squad must have been lacking, or that they were sohow more special—a self-glorifying delusion common to all humans.
The belief that their continued survival until now was due to their own skill. The illusion that Seowoon’s strength, Juriel’s leadership, and the scouts’ sacrifices were all equally part of their own capabilities.
A common misconception in team play.
When a teammate’s exceptional performance looks routine, it becos hard to objectively judge each person’s contribution to victory.
Seowoon looked at the mages’ discontented expressions—mages who had once despaired while trapped in a formation and now deluded themselves into thinking they broke it through unity and spell synergy.
He then turned to Kaite.
"Let’s put our complaints aside and proceed safely. We’re not in a survival zone just yet."
"Well, if the main and sub-order say so, there’s not much us low-ranking mbers can say."
Kaite’s passive-aggressive remark was clearly intentional, but Seowoon didn’t bother to engage.
"Let’s quickly finish up farming and move out!"
Juriel tried to clear the tense mood and urged the players on.
As they hurriedly fard through wooden crates and partially looted houses, more and more players began using Silence spells.
"Hyung. Isn’t this too shaky?"
"Yeah."
Kichan spoke with a worried expression.
"If the team breaks apart like this, it’s ga over."
"They’re the kind of people who’d dig a hole, lie in it, and ask you to bury them just because it’s cold."
The two spoke as they watched the sunset from the third-floor balcony. As players gathered around to distribute items, the two jumped down and rejoined the squad.
"For our next route, we’ll head back to the outskirts. We’ll defend while monitoring the situation until we reach a safe zone, so let’s start moving—"
Kaite cut her off.
"Right now?!"
His tone was deliberately dramatic.
"Yes. The sooner we get out of here, the better."
"We’ve been camping out for ten days. It’s getting dark. Wouldn’t it be better to rest comfortably for one night to recover strength and morale?"
Kaite looked around at the mages and then glanced at Seowoon as he continued.
"Unlike soone who carries around a comfy portable bed, we’ve accumulated quite a bit of fatigue from sleeping rough. The mages, with even less stamina than us knights, must be struggling even more."
Seowoon frowned. Even though it was his personal item, he’d shared his cube tent with the team, taking turns fairly.
Now this idiot made it sound like only he had slept comfortably while the rest suffered. Annoyance surged within him.
"We need to get out of here as quickly as—"
Sigh "Yeah, yeah! If the main order says so, then so be it."
Kaite sighed dramatically and slung his shield over his back. The mages gathered around him.
"Can’t we rest just for one night?"
"Juriel-nim, please consider our physical condition too."
"A true leader should think about the team’s condition..."
In no ti, Kaite’s rabble-rousing had started to sway Juriel’s leadership.
She sighed, glared at Kaite once, and then nodded.
"Fine. We’ll rest until just before dawn and move out quickly after. Get plenty of rest, everyone!"
With that, she turned coldly and entered a nearby house. Seowoon followed her and lightly tapped Jinryung’s arm.
Jinryung, who had been watching the dispersing players, followed them inside.
"Disciple. Do you have sothing to say?"
As Jinryung entered, Lilingwi, Kichan, Kaein, and Juyeoryun also gathered. Seowoon explained the survival party plan.
"Hmm... It’s true that having a contingency group is important. But are you sure it’s okay not to tell the others?"
"They know nothing about team play. Even if we told them, they’d only resist."
Jinryung silently nodded, unable to argue.
"That Kaite knight is a serious problem. He’s greedy for items, but he doesn’t think things through."
"He’s not worth worrying about. Once we start moving tomorrow, I’ll make sure he falls in line. The real issue is that the mages are starting to speak up and spout nonsense. Can you keep them in check?"
Juriel nodded firmly.
"Don’t worry. They’re not complete idiots. They won’t do anything reckless just out of spite."
"Then I guess we’ve co to an agreent. Let’s hope the worst-case scenario never cos to pass."
Everyone scattered into the empty houses, ending the day earlier than expected.
The players, who had insisted on resting to recover stamina, had actually gathered late into the night at Kaite’s lodging.
Each of them contributed a comnt about how they needed to consolidate their opinions moving forward, lending support to Kaite through an intense discussion—until Juriel’s team voice channel rang out.
–The alarm’s been triggered! Everyone, regroup!
By the ti players rushed over in a panic, the martial artists’ faces were already tense with anxiety.
Seeing their alert expressions as they sensed a rapidly approaching presence, Kaite and the mages picked up on the ominous atmosphere.
–All players not in the escape party will be sacrificed.
Kaite was the first to protest Juriel’s declaration.
"What do you an an escape party at a critical mont?! So you’ve been forming a private survival party behind our backs?!"
As the tension spread, Juriel, confirming the player quickly approaching from the distance, looked at Seowoon.
The mont she nodded, Seowoon and Jinryung broke from the squad and sprinted away at full speed.
"Damn it! Co ba—"
"Shut your mouth."
Kichan cut off Kaite’s outburst with a clenched jaw and fury in his voice.
Juriel had intended to lead the team to safety the mont the alarm spell triggered—but their opponent’s speed was unreal.
The rate at which her alarm spells—set at a distance—were being broken was far too fast to be normal.
By the ti they realized this wasn’t a squad’s movent speed, it was too late.
In the end, Juriel decided that all mbers except Seowoon and Jinryung would stay behind and perish.
Even if it was just a second—it was about buying ti.
That was their only hope.
Kichan, too, chose to stay as part of the sacrifice party for the sake of the team’s performance.
It was obvious Kaite, who had caused this ss in the first place, should be the last one running his mouth.
"What did you just say—"
"Shut up. If you drop out of this ga, you’ll beco an enemy of House Ronis."
Kaite swallowed at Juriel’s next words.
He had approached her, thinking she was simply a clear-headed, innocent girl, but now he was faced with a completely different side of her.
Cold, emotionless eyes and a frosty expression.
Above all, her authoritative tone—dropping all formal speech—felt so natural it was clear this was her true self.
House Ronis was the greatest noble family in the Kaern Empire.
Even if you were from another country, being marked by such a family ant you were dangerously close to death.
"Th-This is just a ga..."
"This is your final warning. Open your mouth again and see what happens."
Kaite couldn’t speak anymore.
As he stared in fear at the approaching player, his jaw trembling, Juriel issued her final order in an icy voice.
"Hold them off as long as you can!"
All the players rushed at the lone figure sprinting toward them with a crooked grin on his face.
Magic was hurled, and knights abandoned their shield formations to charge alongside the martial artists.
–Shhk.
A single swing of the white Sugang, and most spells were sliced clean through like the space itself had been torn. The thick armor of the knights was aningless.
Unstoppable.
Weapons were cut down along with the ones who held them, and no amount of numbers could stop even a single blow—it was futile.
Lilingwi’s eyes flashed as she ducked under a knight whose waist had just been cleaved in two. She pulled sothing from subspace and scattered it toward the enemy.
As the shattered vial released its contents, the fluid burned through the air like an invisible shield in front of the enemy—who abruptly retreated, leaving only an afterimage.
It was as if ti had stopped, with only him moving.
The players who had gone in for close combat stood frozen, staring blankly at him.
"Yonggolsan? So you’re from the Poison Valley. I’d heard the sect leader’s youngest granddaughter was quite beautiful. Not bad at all."
As the boy’s eyes road brazenly over her body, Lilingwi shivered with disgust.
That tone and those gestures—there was no way this was a child.
"I’ve never heard of any expert in Kangho reaching the state of rejuvenation."
Watching her speak to buy ti, Namsagwang smiled in the boy’s body.
"Child, thinking rejuvenation must co from martial mastery is a mistake. Look at Yookok’s old man. People call him an immortal, but he’s a wrinkled old prune."
Though the comnt about Yookok Immortal Jang Docheon being wrinkled wasn’t true, she didn’t bother correcting it.
"So you’re saying you really have reversed aging."
"Yes, I have. But rejuvenation is just a reaction, not the result of achievent. Just an annoying side effect, really. I’ve heard quite a bit about you. Good timing."
As he finished, his tongue flicked across his lips in a revolting gesture that made her want to vomit.
She crushed a small capsule hidden behind her molars. The bitter sll of the dicine hit her nose instantly.
At the sa ti, her hair turned white, and her skin began to blacken.
Namsagwang’s brow furrowed.
"Mukdok Clan? Carrying around filth like that, are you?"
Poison leaked thickly from her body—enough that even her nearby teammates had to back away.
Scowling, Namsagwang moved again.
Watching him slaughter players with his Sugang was closer to a massacre than a fight.
The two fearless scouts and Lilingwi, who charged in to the end, were instantly felled.
Kaite, backing away, was filled with terror as he watched.
Namsagwang, savoring the scent of fear from Kaite, extended toward him.
Kaite couldn’t believe it when his throat was caught in the man’s hand—he couldn’t even lift a finger.
He understood now how a frog must feel before a giant snake.
"Guaaaargh!"
As Sugang slowly sank into his stomach, tearing through his guts one by one, Kaite let out a blood-curdling scream.
At that mont, Juriel stopped casting spells.
–The mont he dies, scatter and flee.
It would buy more ti than resisting with ineffective magic.
As the mages pulled out airboards and stood trembling—blood flowing from all seven facial orifices—Kaite’s head slumped, and everyone bolted in different directions.
Namsagwang didn’t even bother avoiding wide-area or status-effect magic. He only stopped moving once no one was left alive.
He rummaged through so crates, pocketed a few items, and then looked toward the direction Seowoon and Jinryung had fled.
"...Tch. The buff cos first."
Catching the red coin that appeared before him, Namsagwang vanished across the field.
Behind him, where re minutes ago players had stood filled with confidence and complaints, only ruins remained.
Back in the bamboo grove where they had first spawned, the returning players wore stiff expressions.
Kaite’s face was especially pale.
Juriel stood in front of him, her presence icy.
"You said this is your second run, right? Then you know there’s a vote if you survive."
At the word "vote," Kaite’s legs trembled slightly.
"You’re aware that if you receive elimination votes from everyone, you’re dropped with zero coins, right?"
Gulp.
As he swallowed, Juriel turned to the mages and knights and spoke coldly.
"I swear on the na of House Ronis. If the final vote does not go as I intend... I will issue an extermination order under the na of my family. I will use every ans at my disposal—bounties, influence, whatever it takes—to find and destroy you."
–Clang!
With a heavy thud of tal, Kaite dropped to his knees.
Gone was the bright-eyed, energetic new player image she had once shown.
Before them now stood a noble of a great house—cold and ruthless.
"P-Please, have rcy..."
"Pray hard that Seowoon survives and makes it to the safe zone. If I’m the one eliminated here... your end won’t just be dropping out. That’s a promise, sealed by the honor of my house."
She whispered this coldly in his ear before turning away. The martial artists and Kichan followed her without hesitation.
Even though Kaite had thrown away his pride and knelt, it was clear—his elimination was certain.
And yet, he had no choice but to pray that the teammates who would vote him out—thanks to Seowoon’s survival—actually made it.
Otherwise, his life might be forfeit.
"Um, I..."
One mage tried to speak up with difficulty, but none of the players who had passed him so far turned around.
The others who had remained followed them, hesitantly approaching Juriel’s group as they took their seats off to the side.
Kaite was left completely alone, still kneeling.
He didn’t need to see the vote results to know.
On the 60-inch Flexiv magic screen, Seowoon and Jinryung’s escape was shown from a third-person perspective.
Survivors.1301 / 2000
.
.
.
Namsagwang → Juriel (Killed via Earth Magic).
Juriel touched her forehead where she had just been pierced.
Though the wound had already vanished, she gently rubbed the spot as she looked at the screen.
Soon, several players who had been clustered in groups across the lobby began to approach her squad.
"Juriel-nim?"
A woman she didn’t recognize smiled up at her.
"We’ve been watching. I’m a mber of Jinryung-nim’s squad. If you don’t mind... would you care to watch with us?"
Smiling in return, Juriel nodded and stood to follow her, scanning the knights and mages before walking off.
Naturally, the martial artists and Kichan followed after her—to where Jinryung’s squad was seated.
[T/L: Read extra Chapters on my ko-fi page "Pokemon1920" : sko-fi/pokemon1920 ]
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