Chapter 15
Chapter 15
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>Translator: Lord First
>Chapter: 15
>Chapter Title: Morning Star (5)
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*
This tutorial is too damn hard.
The moment he thought that, the Kim Seon-woo inside him flinched. But Ivan ignored Kim Seon-woo’s reaction and continued his train of thought.
This is way too hard. It was true even when he objectively recalled his time as Kim Seon-woo and imagined the game's progression.
Ivan leaned against a tree trunk to rest, letting out a sigh.
Just one. If he’d had even one squadmate at Dmitry’s level, he wouldn't have had to fight like this.
Kill a couple of soldiers on the east end, set a trap, sprint all the way to the west end, and intentionally fire a shot.
Repeating such tactics for over thirty minutes was starting to exhaust even someone like Ivan.
The difficulty doubled since he could only let a gunshot ring out once per engagement. Thanks to that, he’d gotten a long gash on his forearm.
Ivan took out the last remaining healing potion and was about to pour it, but stopped.
Hmm… It’s bearable. Let’s not use this.
To catch his breath for a moment, Ivan sat down beneath the tree and organized his thoughts. Let’s assume this situation is the tutorial right after selecting the character ‘Isabelle’.
I’ve just passed the character selection screen. Now, the loading screen is displaying a bunch of world-building lore, the kind that makes you say, ‘What the hell is that, you nerd?’, and the loading bar is almost full.
If this were a AAA game, a cutscene would play here. As it happens, there’s a fitting one.
A train terror attack. An academy cliché.
Alright, the train attack happens, and she wakes up in a pile of dirt. In front of her, an NPC has been injured in her place.
If we assume the player starts here, there’s a problem.
‘How did she get out?’
Just escaping the train car buried in dirt and rock is a problem. Let’s assume there was some kind of puzzle inside that she could solve to get out.
And after that, she’s swarmed by unidentified elite soldiers?
Without even being taught the combat system? And on top of that, the tutorial boss is…
‘She had Danger Sense.’
Considering Esidis’s case, it was even stranger. His tutorial was so simple you could beat it with one hand.
So was this an escape event, not a combat one?
Or maybe it was a defeat event. It could be an event where you get captured after losing and then have to escape. There are plenty of games like that.
‘No. These guys were trying to kill Isabelle.’
The soldiers’ equipment wasn’t meant for capture. It was clearly intended for murder.
That means she couldn’t afford to be caught. Usually, in a defeat event, you’re rescued by an ally right after the battle is lost.
Rescued…?
An ally…?
‘Me…?’
Ivan’s expression turned cold. His heart sank. I was the ally?
In other words, I was an NPC?
Ivan forced himself to suppress his pounding heart. He was used to wrestling down his boiling emotions. Calmly, he counted off the points one by one.
Did a character named ‘Ivan Petrovich’ exist in the original game?
The fact that he served in the military, toiled like a dog for eighteen years, had to fight the Seven Dragon Generals despite being an ordinary person, and even established an orphanage after his discharge.
Was all of that already part of the ‘setting’? Regardless of his own will. Was it all predetermined?
If so, what kind of ending did the original ‘Ivan Petrovich’ meet? Did he survive until the end? Would he even make an appearance in the ending credits?
Forcibly cutting off the chain of negative thoughts, Ivan tucked the healing potion back inside his coat.
There’s only one way to find out.
Why was the difficulty of this event such a mess, and was it truly a situation where she was doomed to die without an ally?
He quickly climbed a tree and made his way toward the train.
*
-Clang! Screeeech!!
Sparks flew as the blades clashed. She was outmatched in strength, and it was difficult to gain an advantage in skill.
Isabelle gritted her teeth and twisted her blade.
A beautiful parry, as if lifted straight from a swordsmanship manual. Its trajectory flowed seamlessly, without a single error, deflecting the enemy’s sword.
It was the best Isabelle could do. She had no confidence she could land a more beautiful attack.
“You see them sometimes.”
Aifelos laughed as he struck Isabelle’s sword away.
“Kids who’ve seen something somewhere, lock themselves in a dusty room, and just swing a stick around. Honor students who memorize the manual, trying to make their attacks faster, more fluid. Right?”
“Sh…ut up!”
“You are mistaken, Knight of Tilles.”
-Clang! Kang!
Her attacks were blocked. Meanwhile, every time she tried to defend, she invariably suffered a loss, however slight.
Though there were no prominent injuries yet, Isabelle could feel it. She was gradually being forced onto the defensive.
The balance between her offense and defense was a mess. She couldn’t even take a single step forward, only stumbling backward again and again.
And behind her were the civilians. The ones she was responsible for.
She couldn’t retreat any further. It was checkmate, her back against the wall. Isabelle ground her teeth and swung her sword.
-Clang!
“What’s the point of a sword swing if it doesn’t reach your opponent? Swordsmanship, in the end, is nothing more than a method for sinking the tip of your blade into another’s body!”
-Clang!
“To think the Hero’s daughter reached this age without a single real battle! The sloth of those Alliance bastards is sickening.”
“Shut up!”
-Clang! Kang! Clang!
A sword swung in anger can no longer guarantee technical precision.
It is merely brandished haphazardly, in a fit of pique.
And Aifelos had far too much experience to be struck by such a clumsy attack.
-Screech, clang!
He entangled their blades, flicking his wrist to send hers flying. Disarmed, Isabelle’s sword clattered and rolled across the ground.
In truth, he could have finished this much faster. However, the title of [Hero’s Kin] had greatly heightened his caution.
That man, the Hero, Maximilian, always managed to pull off some kind of miracle at the last second.
But it was over now. Aifelos smirked. I lost good soldiers for nothing.
“You couldn’t protect anyone. Isabelle, daughter of Maximilian. Any last words?”
Isabelle bit her lip, her eyes fixed on her fallen sword. Facing death with composure was commendable, but she should be looking at her opponent now. How naive. Aifelos sneered at Isabelle and raised his sword.
*
Ivan watched the scene from high up in a tree.
He had no intention of saving her. He had to be sure.
If Isabelle died here, it meant his guess was wrong.
Of course, there were games where you could get a game over by losing to the tutorial boss. But this wasn't one of them. Wasn't the opponent too strong to beat with her stats?
But if he rushed in to save Isabelle now, well.
Then it would be truly undeniable. It would be the same as confirming that the character ‘Ivan Petrovich’ was nothing more than an NPC in this game.
So, even if Isabelle died, he wasn’t going to intervene.
After all, there were still five other player characters left.
If he could find out by sacrificing one, it was a worthy trade.
Ivan gazed down at Isabelle from afar, lost in thought.
*
“You couldn’t protect anyone. Isabelle, daughter of Maximilian. Any last words?”
Time seemed to slow for Isabelle. Like a panorama of one’s life flashing before their eyes at the moment of death.
The blade flowing like a wave, the demon’s face filled with rage and ridicule, the distorted moonlight, the sound of her own ragged breath.
Her own sword, lying at her feet. The proof of her effort and time, now cast aside like trash.
-Take up your sword.
Such a voice was heard. The one Sir Dian August had mumbled while unconscious, from a very, very old knighting ceremony.
Her consciousness sank deeper. A vague image came to mind.
Among the countless people lined up in rows, one person is kneeling.
Stand in the place of the weak, and with the eyes of the weak, look upon those like us.
>The reason we take up the sword is not for our valor, nor our strength, nor our superiority.
>It is simply because it is right. Because it is just, for the great cause we must protect.
A solemn declaration is heard. The knights lined up in the hall raise their swords in unison.
The old man at the very front raises his sword, turns the blade flat, and slowly lowers it.
As carefully as a baptism. *Tap.* As the flat of the blade is laid upon the head of the kneeling one.
Take up your sword because it is your duty.
>Take up your sword not for your strength, but for your virtue.
Again, *tap, tap.* Touching both shoulders.
Now, your name is Knight.
>Stand in the place of the weak, and with the eyes of the weak, look upon those like us.
Isabelle held her breath, coming to her senses in the silence.
The demon’s blade was falling toward her head. Slowly, yet her body felt heavier and slower still.
And from behind her came groans of terror and shock, screams, and wails.
Stand in the place of the weak, and with the eyes of the weak, look upon them.
>Take up your sword not for your strength, but for your virtue.
The voice continued to echo.
Yes, I will. As if possessed, Isabelle reached for the fallen sword. She gripped the hilt.
Her body felt light. As if it had never been this way in her entire life.
>The muscles throughout her body flexed with fluid grace, then gathered with unyielding strength.
By the time Aifelos’s sword was just above her head, Isabelle was already in position.
-Shunk—!
Silence fell. From everyone around. Even the wind.
>Even the rustling forest breeze could not distract Isabelle’s ears in this moment.
The clouds parted, and the moonlight shone brightly once more.
The survivors behind her forgot even to breathe as they stared at the scene before them.
The blade had stopped just above Isabelle’s crouched head.
>And from the large demon’s back, the blade protruded like a tree branch.
“How…?”
Aifelos couldn’t comprehend the situation. He stared down at Isabelle with a dazed look.
He couldn’t see her expression. Her head was bowed. But in that moment, he knew with absolute clarity. This kid. No.
This knight had just taken her first step.
Aifelos let out an empty laugh. First the Hero, and now his daughter runs me through.
He coughed up a spray of blood and staggered backward.
*Clatter.* The sword slipped from his hand. He stumbled back and collapsed to his knees.
“Huuu…”
Isabelle, too, planted her sword in the ground and knelt on one knee, exhaling a deep breath. She was exhausted. Completely.
But she had saved them. She had saved them. Everyone behind her.
In the end, she had saved all the survivors.
“Impressive.”
At the low voice, she snapped her head up. A man was walking toward her from a distance.
His thick beard obscured his expression, but his piercing blue eyes shone clearly even in the darkness. That man was smiling.
Seeing his arm dripping with blood and his coat, tattered and scratched by branches, she could guess what kind of battle he had just fought.
She couldn’t have done that. Hadn’t she almost died fighting just one of them?
Was this why he’d said she’d be no help? Isabelle gave a small laugh and shook her head.
“The other enemies…?”
“This one was the last.”
“That’s amazing. Truly…”
“I suppose.”
With a gaze like one looking down at a well-grown niece, the man smiled gently.
Isabelle thought the description was so accurate that she couldn’t help but laugh. Truly, it felt as if this man saw her as nothing more than a niece.
“Huh? What are you doing?”
“Healing him.”
He was uncapping the disgusting truth serum and walking toward the fallen demon.
*
What a relief. Kim Seon-woo sighed.
>Fortunate. Ivan also gave a short laugh.
It was a standard early-game awakening event. The kind included in a tutorial.
Presumably, Isabelle would have killed all the enemies in this forest. Of course, in the process, every single survivor would have been wiped out, and she would have been the only one left.
Because of his intervention, all the survivors made it out alive. That was good. It seemed the only variable in this world was Ivan himself.
Ivan smiled in relief. Then this was good. The fact that he wasn't an NPC was a significant enough achievement.
Now, there was only one thing left to do.
“What are you…?”
“Healing him.”
“Me…? Why…?”
“Because I have a lot of questions.”
If the difficulty gap between Esidis’s and Isabelle’s tutorials was normal, then what kind of difficulty distribution would the other children of the Hero’s Party have?
Should he intervene, or was it fine to just watch?
This was a perfect opportunity. Unlike with Esidis, this time the mastermind behind the terror attack had revealed himself in person.
How a demon could swagger around so brazenly near Pritschenkaya, how many more had infiltrated the academy, what they were plotting and where, and just who was sitting at the top.
There was much to find out.
>And the Annihilation Squad tends to have a lot of curiosity, and many ways to satisfy it.