I Became a Tyrant of the Defense Game - Episode 15
◈ 015. [Side Story] In the black lake
Lucas cautiously opened his mouth..
“I am…….”
I was a little nervous. What excuse should I make to Lucas to make him follow me? All sorts of plans came to mind..
but.
“I just move as your Majesty tells me. I have no doubts.”
lucas said so.
“I am your sword and your shield. I just cut and block as your majesty commands..”
“…….”
I was speechless..
There can be no doubt. But Lucas told me that he would trust me beyond that question..
I was even slightly moved. Sigh. Lucas, you bastard. I'll give you a big bonus later..
“Okay, Lucas.!”
I pointed to the inside of the gate and shouted excitedly..
“So are you ready to go into the jaws of hell??”
Lucas nodded deeply with a stern face..
“If I'm with you, even to the bottom of hell. Gladly.”
You don't know it, but we've already been through hell together, Lucas..
And we'll do it together this time too.
Without saying those words out loud, I just lightly tapped Lucas on the shoulder. Lucas also smiled faintly..
After a while, preparations were roughly completed. To begin with, I was only going to do light reconnaissance, so there was no need to prepare anything else..
I went and stood in front of the gate. Then a system window appeared in front of me..
[teleport gate]
- Please select a destination.
> lakeside ferry
> (unopened area)
> (unopened area)
> ……
There is only one place you can go to the gate now. Just a ‘lakeside ferry’.
As you clear the dungeon, the places you can go will gradually increase. I selected the lakeside ferry and activated the gate..
As the magic door began to spin, Lucas stood in front of the gate first..
“I will go first, Your Highness. If there is an enemy out there, I will sort it out..”
“You don’t have to worry about that, the gate is safe..”
“Still, there is something that happens just in case. Then first.”
Then he jumped into the gate. It's like the embodiment of sincerity..
“after.”
I took a deep breath and followed suit, throwing myself into the gate..
Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu-!
My vision was distorted, and the feeling of floating in the air enveloped my whole body..
Eventually, the world turned black..
***
[Now Loading… … Teleporting.]
[Tip - Heroes can become stronger by wearing equipment. Equipment can be obtained from dungeons or produced at a blacksmith shop..]
Hey, don't pop up a tip window out of nowhere! Now stop pretending it's a friendly game!
***
flashing!
A flash of light flashes, and the gate has passed..
As I passed through the gate, I saw a lake with rippling dark blue water..
“You came to the right place.”
I felt a little motion sick, but my limbs came out fine..
I straightened up and looked around. It's next to an old ferry on the lakeside. A flowing lake is right in front of you..
This black lake is the source of monsters. A hell that spits out nightmares.
It is a dungeon blocking the southern part of the world..
“…….”
The pitch-black lake slowly swirled and gave off an unsettling energy. Like an abyss.
Without even realizing it, I was looking into the lake as if I was fascinated..
“majesty!”
Lucas' urgent voice was heard..
Startled, I looked over there. I saw Lucas' back standing at the end of the ferry..
“What, what's going on??”
“over there, over there……!”
Lucas raised his hand with a white face and pointed to one side of the lake. I saw that too.
And then I opened my eyes wide.
Shoot ahhh……!
The surface of the pitch-black lake cracks and foams.,
thud! thud! thud!
Stamping their feet all at once, the monsters began to rise..
Slap! Cheolkeong!
They were hollow, rusty armor..
Clutching their red, rusty weapons, the armored monsters crawled out of the lake, making a strange metallic sound..
A faint glow flickered within the empty helmet..
Army of armored ghosts.
I muttered through gritted teeth..
“Living Armor Corps……!”
Why are they these bastards?!
The stage composition has some degree of randomness..
The enemies in the early stages are randomly selected from among several types of low-level monsters..
However, it does not go beyond the low-level category. This means there are no ridiculous difficulty cliffs like in the tutorial..
……Except in one case,.
‘If I had to, if I had to!’
I ground my teeth..
‘Why is it Living Armor?!’
Goblins are good, mermaids are good, and at least wyverns are good..
Among all the low level monsters, Living Armor was the only one that caught me..
I tried to keep my composure and opened the stage information window. Perhaps because we encountered the enemy, enemy information was displayed properly..
[Enemy Information - STAGE 1]
- Lv.? ??? : 1 body
- Lv.5 Living Armor Assault Trooper: 1052 units
The '???' displayed at the top is the boss monster..
The remaining living armor is a huge number, amounting to 1,000 won. Should I call it mercy that the level is low?.
thud! thud! thud!
The scene where thousands of armored monsters cut through the water and crawled out was bizarre and grotesque..
The monsters gathered on the north side of the lake began their northward march without delay. This is the direction where the crossroads is..
“Those guys... … These are the monsters we have to stop this time..”
“…….”
“majesty?”
As I visibly froze, Lucas turned to look at me with a look of concern on his face..
“Are you okay? You have a bad complexion. Even if you feel unwell somewhere…….”
“……lucas.”
I think I said this line in the tutorial too..
I couldn't help it. I had nothing to say other than this..
I faced Lucas and spoke seriously, honestly, and solemnly..
“It happened again, fuck it.”
***
While playing, I reset the game no less than 741 times..
If there was no chance of clearing it, I had no choice but to start again from the beginning..
The reason for reset was different each time. From training reasons such as Lucas dying or the first team being wiped out during the progress..
There are operational reasons such as draining the city's finances, destroying resource-wasting facilities, or not being able to obtain a high-level hero due to lack of lottery luck..
Still, in most situations I tried to hold on to the game until the end..
Even in a losing situation, there is something to be learned and a lesson that can be used in the next game..
But in just one case. In this case, I reset the game without looking back..
That was in the case of the Stage 1 monster species Living Armor Corps..
In this case, no matter what I did, I got a game over, or no matter how I cleared it, the damage was so severe that I had to reset it anyway..
I tried to break it up to 10 times, but after that I just reset it as soon as I saw Living Armor..
‘If you appear in Stage 1, the most troublesome monsters are these armor bastards..’
I rubbed my aching forehead with my fingertips..
Living Armor is literally a monster made of armor. The body is the ghost inside it..
In short, it means that the resistance to physical attacks is quite high..
Most of the soldiers who will defend the fortress are ordinary humans..
You can't cut out a monster's spirit core like Lucas, or use magic like Lily or Jupiter. You have to fight normally with a sword..
However, 1,000 ghosts wearing strong armor attack.?
Other monsters die if you shoot them with a cannon or stab them with a spear, but that's not the case with these monsters..
The armor is strong, and the body is also a ghost, so it doesn't hold up well with blades..
If it just crashes, the damage is bound to be enormous..
This side also becomes easier to deal with from the mid-game, when your characters and party become stronger and you are equipped with various water-based equipment..
Currently in Stage 1, all environments are poor..
‘It was okay as long as it wasn't Living Armor, damn it!’
At this point, I can even sense some malice. I get the feeling that someone is deliberately trying to ruin the game.…….
flashing!
After completing reconnaissance, Lucas and I immediately rode through the gate and returned to Crossroads. I brought up the stage information window again..
[STAGE 1]
- Forward until start: 2 days 23 hours
3 days until the stage starts.
3It means that in one day, those monsters will come here. Although time is running out, there is time to prepare..
I have no choice but to do everything I can.
“Ader!”
As I entered the mansion and shouted, Ader ran in front of me, adjusting her glasses..
“Did you call me, my lord?!”
“The city's military situation is?”
“The total number of people currently employed at Crossroads who can go to the front is five hundred and twenty-six.!”
Over the past few years, when monster invasions have decreased, the fortress's permanent troops numbered around 3,000..
Most of them were lost in the tutorial stage..
Although the number of mercenaries was increased by over 100, the troop situation was still very poor..
‘Ash you stupid bastard!’
I once again cursed this foolish prince who had lent his body to me. damn!
If it were any other monster corps, the current troops would be ridiculous, but for the Living Armor corps, this is simply not enough..
“The number of troops that can be recruited is?”
“All of the mercenaries who came to the city have already been hired. We will hire more as we come in.…….”
“Are you saying there is no room for more??”
“In this city, yes.”
“Then send a dispatch to another nearby city and borrow troops! They said they would give me twice the regular weekly wage.!”
Of course, Crossroads is a fortress standing alone in the southernmost remote area of the world..
Even if it's a nearby city, the round trip will take several days. Still, it's better to ask than not to ask..
“And send a dispatch to the imperial family of the home country. Announce that monsters have begun to act, and request as many reinforcements as possible..”
Ader, who was writing down my words, paused and glanced at me..
“……Are you sure you’re okay, Youngjoo??”
Requesting support from the center of the empire triggers a fatal 'event' in the mid-game..
So I tried to endure as much as possible without asking for support, but what could I do? I have to live right now!
“It's okay, so call me!”
“Okay!”
“Then he called in all the carpenters, masons, blacksmiths, and alchemists in the city. No, not calling in, conscripting..”
Crossroads is the world's largest producer of magic stones..
A significant number of production workers are working to process magic stones. I was thinking of using these too.
“But if that happens, the magic stone processing line will stop.…….”
“The city looks like it's in ruins, so is magic stone processing important? Stop everything and bring everything!”
“All right. I will conscript you immediately..”
Besides that, I gave minor instructions and gave the final command..
“Then, gather all party members.”
“There are a total of 9 heroes that can be organized. How would you organize it??”
“…….”
I opened a system window.
And five newly selected heroes, including Jupiter, to one party..
The rest, myself, Lucas, Damian, and Lily were organized into the main party..
“The party is organized like this. Deliver it while convening.”
“Miss Lily has some difficulty moving around..”
“Now is not the time to discuss such things..”
I feel sorry for Lily, who is about to retire from the military because she can no longer walk. She's not in a position to afford to let an R-rated wizard play around right now..
“I do not have time. Follow the instructions immediately!”
“Okay~!”
Ader rushed out of the mansion..
I ordered Lucas to prepare for battle as soon as the party members arrive, then returned to my room in the mansion..
I sat down on the bed and opened a system window in the air..
I kept thinking and couldn't decide... … I don't think I can afford it anymore..
‘career choice.’
Among the list of possible occupations, I ended up choosing the last one..
‘Commander’.
The difficulty level of this game is not normal right now..
This is the case with the queen spider in the tutorial, and the fact that the Living Armor Corps, the worst monster species in the beginning, appeared right away..
The more difficult the game, the more variable creation is needed..
So I decided to take a gamble. I decided to create a variable with a hidden job I had never seen before..
[‘Would you like to choose ‘Beginner Commander’ as your profession??]
- Yes/No
okay. Yes, you bastard.
I carefully touched Yes with trembling hands..
[Ash (EX) changes to ‘beginner commander’!]
A fanfare sounded to celebrate the change of job..
and.
“What, what??!”
I widened my eyes at the system message that followed..
No, what is this again??!
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