The Basics of Strategy
Tae-oh shot upright with a sharp gasp, eyes snapping open. His hand flew to his throat on pure reflex. The icy sensation of an Aura-coated blue blade slicing through his cervical vertebrae was already gone. But the overwhelming terror and helplessness that had seared into his mind the instant his head was severed still lingered, making his entire body tremble.
‘Fuck… No matter how many times I feel it, I never get used to this.’
Tae-oh clenched his teeth and glanced at the corner of his vision. One of the four hearts that had been glowing brightly was now shattered. Only three remained, pulsing with a dull red light.
‘Haa… Damn it. Back to square one.’
For the information he’d gained, the price had been brutally steep. Sitting on the edge of his cot, Tae-oh rubbed his dry face and quickly replayed the two deaths he had just experienced.
The first death: He had mixed a lethal poison brewed through alchemy into Raymon’s canteen. He’d thought it was the cleanest, most perfect assassination possible. The result? Immediate execution by a furious Commander Carlo.
The second death: He had deliberately provoked a one-on-one duel to gauge the man’s specs. He’d arrogantly believed he might actually stand a chance. The result? Beheaded instantly by Raymon’s Aura-infused sword before he could even react.
The situation was now crystal clear. This bastard Raymon was a human-shaped boss monster that Tae-oh’s current specs simply could not defeat, no matter how hard he tried. And if he resorted to underhanded tricks like secret poisoning, it triggered the forced death event known as Carlo’s Rampage.
“Goddamn it!! How the hell am I supposed to solve this?!”
Tae-oh yanked at his hair in frustration. Brute force was clearly not the answer. Using items for cheap tricks was also blocked. This wasn’t a stage the developer had designed to be cleared through raw physical power. It was a puzzle-type boss fight that required solving the gimmick and triggering specific events.
‘I fucking hate developers who shove puzzles into action games.’
But what could he do? This wasn’t a game anymore. It was reality. And when a gamer hit a wall like this, the correct course of action was painfully obvious.
If force doesn’t work, gather information first.
Why had Carlo gone berserk over the death of a mere adjutant and taken his head? Why was Raymon sticking to Carlo’s side while secretly acting as Valik’s spy? Only by uncovering the link between them could he clear this unreasonable stage.
Tae-oh stood up and rummaged through his backpack. Fortunately, the ingredients he had gathered in the forest were still plentiful. Instead of mana stone powder, he carefully dried high-quality meditation herb leaves and began rolling them into papers.
“What the hell are you doing from the crack of dawn? Not making medicine?”
Rolls stretched with a yawn and asked as he watched Tae-oh’s hands move.
“Making bribes. There’s nothing better than cigarettes for loosening lips anywhere in the world.”
“You really cover all your bases. Whose mouth are you trying to pry open this time?”
“Old rumors floating around this unit. I stayed up all night thinking about it. There’s something off about the relationship between Carlo and Raymon. There’s definitely more to it.”
Rolls clicked his tongue and got to his feet.
“You crazy bastard. You’ve gone from cleaning up your act to investigating the commander himself. If you get caught, it’s your neck for real.”
“Then I just have to make sure I don’t get caught. You take the guys and run them through some brutal training. I’ll be back later.”
Tae-oh stuffed dozens of the thickly rolled cigarettes into his pocket and left the barracks.
The atmosphere inside the unit had changed dramatically from just a few days ago. As Tae-oh stepped out of the barracks and crossed the training ground, every soldier he passed turned to stare at him.
“That’s him. The crazy recruit who took down a War Wolf in Sector 7.”
“He killed a magic beast by himself? No way. I heard he’s not even an Aura User.”
“I saw it with my own eyes. That massive wolf head sitting in front of Commander Carlo’s quarters. He really dragged it out of the forest.”
The whispers tickled Tae-oh’s ears. The achievement of slaying the War Wolf had spread throughout the entire unit far faster and with far more exaggeration than he had anticipated. Within the Reconnaissance Scout Unit, Tae-oh’s name had already transcended the level of a mere conscript and was being treated like that of a legendary rookie.
‘Oh? The situation isn’t as bad as I thought?’
Tae-oh decided to make full use of this sudden fame. He approached the veteran soldiers maintaining equipment on the outskirts of the base and the old supply soldiers loitering near the mess hall. In the military, the place where information gathered most densely was always the mess hall.
“Seniors, you’ve all been working hard. After a meal, there’s nothing better than this, right? Would you like to try one?”
Tae-oh approached with a friendly grin and offered the hand-rolled cigarettes. The veterans, who had initially been wary of the new recruit, quickly let their guard down at the title of War Wolf Hunter and the pungent aroma of the tobacco.
“Oh, so you’re the famous Tae-oh. Yeah, I heard you took down a magic beast. We’ve got a real mad dog this time.”
“I just got lucky. All I did was pick some of these leaves in the forest. Let me light that for you.”
As the smoke rose and the potent nicotine stimulated their brains, the veterans’ mouths began to loosen.
“By the way, seniors, I haven’t been here long, so I have some questions. About our Commander Carlo…”
“The commander? Why, did you get on his bad side?”
“No, it’s just that when I went to give a report yesterday, the atmosphere between him and Adjutant Raymon seemed strange. Are those two usually that close?”
Tae-oh casually cast out the bait. The old supply soldier took a deep drag, glanced around, and lowered his voice.
“They have to be close. They’re from the same hometown. A small village near the Empire’s border. I heard they were best friends since childhood—practically inseparable.”
Just as I thought.
Tae-oh’s eyes gleamed. It wasn’t a simple superior-subordinate relationship after all. Childhood best friends. And from the same remote border village, no less.
“Ah, so that’s why Senior Raymon has stayed as his adjutant all this time.”
“Exactly. Carlo rose to commander through pure skill, but he doesn’t have any noble backers. So he keeps the most trustworthy guy right by his side. And Raymon follows Carlo loyally too.”
The information from the old soldier perfectly explained why Tae-oh had been killed. It was only natural for Carlo to lose his mind over the poisoning of someone who was practically a brother to him.
But that raised another question.
‘Why would Raymon, who is like a brother to Carlo, act as Knight Commander Valik’s spy?’
Did Carlo not know? Or was he pretending not to know?
Just as Tae-oh was about to ask his next question, another veteran casually tossed out a remark.
“Hey, what does it matter if they’re like brothers? There’s one person who can come between those two anyway.”
“What do you mean?”
Tae-oh’s eyes sparkled as he offered another rolled meditation herb cigarette. The veteran chuckled and accepted it.
“There’s one more person in this unit from the exact same hometown. And it’s a very strict, very beautiful woman.”
“A woman?”
“Yeah. Administrative Officer Roselyn from the admin section. She’s from the same village too. The three of them grew up together. There were tons of rumors that Carlo and Raymon were always subtly competing over her.”
Tae-oh’s heart pounded. A new character had appeared—one deeply entangled in the past and emotions of the two men. She was undoubtedly a core NPC. The only key capable of unlocking this stage’s gimmick.
“Administrative Officer Roselyn…”
Tae-oh handed over the rest of his cigarettes to the veterans and quickly left. His destination was now set.
Unlike the sweat-soaked barracks, the administrative office was quiet and tidy. Tae-oh brushed the dust off his clothes, straightened his appearance, and carefully opened the door. Amid stacks of documents, a woman with a cold expression was scribbling with a pen. Neatly pinned-up black hair and eyes as frigid as ice. She was exactly the Roselyn he had heard about in the rumors.
“Excuse me. I’m Tae-oh from the 3rd Squad.”
Tae-oh greeted her as politely as possible. But Roselyn didn’t even lift her head. Only the steady scratching of her pen filled the office with its consistent rhythm.
“Um, Administrative Officer Roselyn? I have something I’d like to ask…”
Tae-oh took a step closer and called out again. Still no reaction. Her gaze remained fixed solely on the documents on her desk. It was a perfect, absolute disregard, as if the human named Tae-oh didn’t even exist in this space.
‘What the fuck is this?’
Tae-oh was bewildered. No matter how strict an administrator she was, completely ignoring someone who was speaking to her was abnormal.
“Excuse me. I have something to tell you regarding Commander Carlo and Adjutant Raymon…”
He thought mentioning those names would get a reaction. But Roselyn merely flipped a page with a slight frown, her lips remaining firmly sealed.
Finally losing patience, Tae-oh stepped right up to her desk.
“I’m talking to you. Could you at least pretend to listen?”
Only then did Roselyn’s cold eyes turn toward him. A mechanical gaze completely devoid of emotion or interest.
“If you have no official business, leave. This is not a place for recruits to wander freely.”
Her first words were as cold as ice. Before Tae-oh could say anything more, she had already turned her attention back to her documents. It was an impenetrable wall.
‘They really made this quest as shitty as possible.’
Tae-oh clicked his tongue and left the administrative office. It felt like talking to a wall. Approaching a woman like her to dig up her past and find weaknesses was nearly impossible for him right now.
‘My approach was wrong. Her wariness is too high.’
This was a military camp full of rough men. It was only natural for a female administrative officer to raise her thorns and build iron walls to survive. There was no way she would answer a blood-soaked new recruit who suddenly approached her asking about her past.
How could he break through that wall?
As Tae-oh pondered the entire way back to the barracks, a flash of inspiration struck him.
‘That’s right. I had that option.’
Back in his quarters, Tae-oh’s gaze turned toward his squad members training on the field. He hadn’t been able to properly utilize them amid the brutal battles and survival struggles, but the 3rd Squad definitely had useful cards.
The female conscripts: Rian and her friends Lcheni and Licia.
It was finally time to put them to work.
Tae-oh immediately ran to the training ground and gathered his squad. Among the soldiers dripping with sweat, Rian with her bow, the noticeably petite Lcheni, and Licia stood out.
‘Come to think of it, I haven’t really talked to them properly yet.’
Whether due to romance fantasy correction or not, the three women in Tae-oh’s squad were quite attractive. If this weren’t a situation where every second counted for survival, he might have even considered flirting with them.
“Hey, Rian.”
When Tae-oh called her from afar, Rian quickly jogged over.
“Huh? Captain. What’s up?”
Watching Rian brush back her sweat-soaked hair as she approached, Tae-oh suddenly averted his eyes.
‘She’s not even wearing a bra… and she’s training like that? Fuck…’
It was far too stimulating for a man in his early twenties.
“I have a small task I need you to do.”
Oblivious to his thoughts, Rian tilted her head.
“Then why aren’t you looking at me while you talk?”
“T-there’s a reason! Anyway! Among you and those two, who’s good at dealing with people?”
“Dealing with people?”
“Yeah. I need to gather some information.”
Rian recoiled in horror.
“Eek? I absolutely can’t do that! If it’s shooting a bow or hunting, sure, but approaching strangers with a smile, striking up conversations, and digging up dirt… I’m terrible with words and completely hopeless at that stuff. I’d get caught a hundred percent!”
True to her usual tomboyish personality, Rian waved her hands in disgust. Knowing her personality well, Tae-oh made a troubled face. Forcing her would only heighten Roselyn’s suspicion.
‘Fuck, is this a dead end?’
As Tae-oh swallowed a curse and pondered other options, a soft, cautious voice broke the silence.
“Should I try, Captain…?”
It was Lcheni—the squad member with the least presence and the quietest voice—who had approached at some point.
“I’m actually pretty good at that sort of thing.”
“R-really? What did you do before you got here?”
“I worked at a tavern. I’m confident when it comes to talking. Hehe.”
“A tavern…?”
Tae-oh inwardly cheered.
‘It’s you! The key supporter for this quest!’
An unexpected talent had appeared.
“Great, Lcheni. Excellent.”
Lcheni smiled brightly and asked,
“Then what should I find out?”
Tae-oh’s expression turned serious.
“There are three things you need to learn. First, what kind of relationship those three had back in their hometown. Second, why Raymon and Carlo fell out—or why they’re pretending to have fallen out. And third.”
Tae-oh’s eyes sharpened.
“Which of the two men Roselyn is holding a weakness over. You need to find that out.”
Lcheni placed a finger on her lips and said,
“Hmm, that’s too direct. It’ll be hard to find out. Instead, I’ll bring back whatever useful information I can gather on my own.”
In truth, even as he spoke, Tae-oh wondered if he was asking too much.
“Well, if there’s no other way, just bring back anything.”
“Okay~. Got it. Then could you give me something?”
“Huh? What?”
“A bribe, of course. I need something to break the ice, don’t I?”
“I… guess so?”
“Alcohol would be best.”
“…You’re not just saying that because you want to drink, are you?”
“Hehe, you caught me?”
Tae-oh was at a loss for words.
‘Was she always like this?’
He still didn’t fully know his own squad members.