SWNOVELXO Chapter 150
Chapter 150 – Evidence of Advancement (10)
‘No, focus.’
In the quiet house, I tried hard to regain my composure while staring at the screens filling my view. For us now, fighting is indispensable.
In a way, all these systems and people are in motion for the sake of combat. Nothing has changed. No matter how many enemies invade, wherever they come from.
Connecting additional monitors allowed me to survey all areas at a glance, which was shocking, but ultimately, the residents’ tasks remained unchanged. They must defend the fortress, attack enemies, and protect their villages.
“This is actually an opportunity.”
Muttering to myself in a daze, I grabbed the mouse again. The experiences I had accumulated weren’t insignificant.
What the residents on the screen are enjoying can be seen as a reward for fighting. Miraculous powers that make them stronger and more developed.
The strength, supplies, and items they accumulate are closely tied to the Master Program, thus a problem I cannot separate myself from.
So, ‘we’ overcome these battles to earn points and grow stronger. This was an immutable truth.
‘If I fall, it’s game over. I can’t let that happen.’
Moreover, if the massive enemies I’m facing pour out into the world, a disaster will unfold. Eventually, there’s only one choice.
‘The Northern Fortress is a defense operation. It has the most high-level defense turrets and the most experience.’
Calmly prioritizing and organizing the situation, I noted that while the number of bugs driven beyond the river the dwarves called Mother River was substantial, we only needed to hold the line for now.
With more than ten level 10 defense turrets, accumulating over a hundred when all are together, the Northern Front was indeed a sturdy location.
Reinforcements from the kingdom’s army were heading there, so it would not fall easily.
‘It’s best to send those specialized in defense to the north.’
I directly assigned some troops, including Rasen, who learned the next level of Fire Rain at the Hero Academy, to the north.
Those who mastered grand magic like Rasen and the mages with area attacks are the ideal talents to fend off the incoming enemies.
“I can’t send any more reinforcements to the Elves.”
I forcibly blocked the reinforcements Barun wanted to send with my mouse. From what I could see, the best way to defend the Elves was with the resources sent so far and their own strength.
The strongest warriors, the Paladins, including Riena, were already there, so sending more would disturb the balance of power.
‘This time, I must do it.’
Clenching my teeth while checking the residents on multiple screens, I realized only I could control and observe multiple battlefields in real time.
Sadly, the only choice I had against the cunningness and morale of the approaching enemies was my own.
“—!”
‘As for the west… not much I can do. It’s less problematic compared to the bugs.’
For the western region exposed to the enemies led by Luke, all I could do was trust Barun, establish a new defense tower, and redirect the reinforcements sent to the elves.
Just holding the line there was sufficient, so I grabbed my desktop-destroying weapons, slammed the hammer down on Luke’s subordinates, and revved up the chainsaw to chop down the bugs.
-I’m just sad that there’s no way I can help. If you need me, I can guard you?
“No. In the end, we must overcome this ourselves.”
Surprisingly, the war preparations finished quickly. The real work would come when the battle actually starts. In the meantime, I informed Lee So-Yeon about my situation.
The bugs were trying a large-scale attack in unison, and amidst that, local forces were also looking to attack me. She panicked and offered to help, but I politely declined.
It wasn’t because I didn’t realize the importance of the job I had taken on. Rather, there wasn’t much she could do to help practically.
“Don’t worry too much. We can definitely win. Points will keep accumulating even while we fight, and we can find a way to use them.”
-…I always think, but you make us carry too much burdens.
To comfort her, I chatted with her, and I felt her sigh through text. The term “burden” made me chuckle.
It certainly was a burden. A heavy responsibility I never wanted and could never have anticipated, far beyond living as a mere cog in society.
“Value is always found. If fighting together can save them, I’m satisfied with that.”
I found my reason. Whether this was the Master Program’s scheme or not, I had been interested in those appearing on my desktop since the beginning.
Though I hadn’t directly gone there, I had fought alongside them and coexisted. That was connection. It transcended simple curiosity and turned into serious emotion, and just as they cherish me, I now cherish them too.
Through that process, so many trusted and loved me. How could I abandon them?
‘When the day comes that we meet, I want to be able to face them with confidence.’
I was convinced rather than just having an instinct. One day, I would confront those on screen, not as game characters but as real beings.
I would see Riena in person and hear her words.
Striving for that, fighting together now made me happy. If we could survive this crisis where the enemies seemed sharpened, we might draw closer to that reality.
*
“The Black Monsters have also noticed our existence, so hesitating won’t do any good. We strike the enemies attacking the city and save the elves.”
Junyung was busy preparing for the simultaneous outbreak of war, controlling programs and the mouse, but fundamentally, the residents had to carry out the battle.
Riena, who was involved in one of the wars and still unaware of the circumstances outside, bit her lip as she gazed at the large city being attacked in the distance.
The city, which could be said to have all the elf’s power concentrated, was indeed strong and still holding up against the enemy’s fierce assault.
“We need to hurry. Though our kingdom has managed somehow, we couldn’t withstand the endlessly flooding enemies and ultimately had to crumble. Before a gap appears, we must take them down first.”
The dwarves involved as Arin Tribe soldiers shared their experiences and urged immediate action. Once the defense line broke, only slaughter would follow.
For the bugs, prisoners or ransom held no value.
‘I don’t have time for complex strategies. We must charge!’
Riena made her decision. Although attacking the bugs swarming would technically be the first time, it was something that had to be done.
“We’ll strike their flanks. Hurry!”
Soon, troops from the Arin Tribe and a small force of elves set up a formation and slowly approached the enemies.
They didn’t charge mounted. They knew well that horses would serve as a meal for the bugs.
“Your Majesty, look there! They’re… different!”
The sight of the newcomers caught the attention of those barely holding out in the city. The elves, who were becoming mentally drained fighting the horrible monsters they had never seen before, were taken aback by the appearance of the unknown army coming toward them.
Dressed in armor made from bones and flesh by-products, the soldiers of the Arin Tribe looked imposing and fierce.
“But what are those monsters…”
However, the bugs’ judgment was quicker than the elves’. Countless spiders and ants that had been climbing the castle walls, bared their fangs to kill the elves, suddenly turned to confront the Arin Tribe like a wave.
Just when it seemed the walls would fall, they found a breakthrough. The elves, now fighting more easily, observed the mysterious saviors with their tired bodies.
“Those… they look completely different. Is this really happening!?”
“It’s happening, so hurry and grab your spears and shields! They’re coming!”
As the narrowly saved elves caught their breath, on the contrary, those gritting their teeth for battle raised their shields and spears at the commander’s shouts.
The main enemies were various types of spiders, differing from the ants they had mainly faced. Their combat styles, of course, differed slightly as well.
“Ugh! Hold on!”
Those who had to form a wall protecting their comrades in the rear relied on their shields, spears, and armor to fend off the countless glitches charging at them.
Unlike the ants, the spiders used a pair of front legs as their primary weapon, striking swiftly to pierce them whenever a moment’s gap appeared.
In an instant, soldiers were pierced through their eyes or bodies and fell to the ground.
“Toa, we need to use it now. There’s nothing here to catch fire.”
Momentarily stepping back to find the right moment to act, Riena quickly decided to instruct the mage Toa, who was with her, to cast grand magic.
Toa, who learned grand magic as the next stage after Rasen and had utilized it effectively even in the last battlefield, immediately raised her staff, conjuring a massive magic circle in the sky and unleashing a rain of fire arrows beneath it.
Though she couldn’t use this magic in the forest where fire would spread, this open plain before the elves’ city was the ideal location.
“And mages, don’t hold back on your magic. When the enemies are gathered is the opportunity!”
With Toa’s grand magic and the local mages’ spells falling in succession, the clustered bugs were decimated.
The variant bugs, imbued with strong magic power, managed to endure, but the majority of the glitches, who could be considered the main forces, were swept away by the magic.
‘W-wow. No ritual could unleash this level of power.’
Eve, aiming her bow at the enemies, gaped at the grand magic. It was an astonishing scale of magic she had neither seen, heard of, nor even imagined.
And this reaction was similar among the elves still inside the city.
Even while fighting, they momentarily froze, dumbstruck, watching the magic circle showering fire down from the sky.
“Toa, be careful!”
But there were those who showed no surprise at this magic.
Those were the bugs that had directly lost numerous forces due to the magic.
Seeing something that shocked her, Riena hurriedly drew her sword and rushed to block the exhausted Toa.
“W-what is that thing?”
“…Exceptional ones.”
A powerful foe cut through soldiers blocking the way with a blazing sword of black magic, instantly clearing a path. Standing upright on two legs, it brandished a sword in four hands and swayed its eight spider legs, each adorned with venomous fangs like claws, making it no longer something one could merely call an ant.
Instinctively feeling fear, Eve said, to which Riena responded tersely. She had long ago received reports regarding such beings.
Even so, one thing was certain: if this variant, possessing a horridness no game monster could match, was not eradicated now, even more grotesque enemies would likely emerge in the future.