070. Knowledge from the Future (2)

Among terms derived from strategy games, there's one called a cheese build.

On broadcasts and such, they claim it's short for "sharp build,"

but if you trace the actual etymology, it's really short for "a build that lets you coast to a win."

Saying "coast to a win" on a broadcast is a little awkward, so they dressed it up as "sharp build."

Basically, a cheese build's main method is to pinpoint a balance blind spot, a bug, or a pattern weakness in the game.

You exploit the vulnerability you've identified to extract maximum efficiency from minimum resources.

In other words, it means crafting a strategy that makes you go, "Wait, that actually works?"

Naturally, Velvet School Life! had its share of cheese builds.

Of course, they weren't as easy to pull off as that makes them sound.

In Velvetsra combat, there were exactly three things a Player could control.

The characters' movement paths.

The order of item use.

Skill use.

Of these, the characters' movement paths and item use order had to be set in advance, in the standby window before entering combat.

In the end, the only thing the Player could directly manipulate during combat was each character's skill use!

This limitation existed because the Player couldn't control every character in a party simultaneously.

So what happened with the rest of the combat system?

Well, you just leave it to each character's AI, obviously.

Since the AI automatically runs the combat and the Player just watches, cheese builds in Velvetsra honestly relied on luck most of the time.

You could call it a prayer meta—desperately hoping your characters would make smart decisions.

Which is also why the game involved a lot of resets.

'That's why the vast majority of Players emptied their wallets to pull Right to Breathe characters, loaded them up with items and paid currency, and just crushed everything with raw damage....... Even the so-called smart guys just studied attribute strategies and labbed out their skill timings.'

But me, with my light wallet instead of a heavy one like theirs,

I'd always had to commit my whole heart to grinding out cheese builds.

*

Called forward by the instructor, I stared with a dazed expression at the holographic window floating before me.

Familiar controls, familiar skill window, familiar items, familiar movement-path presets.

An interface so familiar it was uncanny.

Deep in my chest, I felt my very soul quiver.

'......Velvetsra.'

Not the world I'd been transmigrated into, but Velvet School Life as a game.

It had materialized before my eyes, in reality.

'You could play Velvetsra here too......?'

And on top of that, playing the game was a regular academy ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠course.

A world where the schoolyard fantasy—getting into college by playing games—had become reality.

Wasn't this a situation practically tailor-made for me?

If I'd known it was this kind of class, I never would've dozed off.

I was at the point of resenting the fatigue from previous classes that had made me briefly nod off.

'Ah, it's been a while.'

I reached my hand toward the interface and gently closed my eyes.

'This cool, weighty sensation.'

All those countless days of hardship—being transmigrated into a game and having to scrap with my body instead of my fingers—flickered through my mind.

Not that I hated the moments when the characters I adored in the game appeared in real life and we laughed and chattered together, of course.

Those moments when I was a gamer were part of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠me too.

With a gift like this sitting right in front of me, there was no way I could resist.

'Yeah, time to go back.'

Velvetsra Player.

Community celebrity.

Noted cheese-build grinder.

I sensed that the moment had come to return to [Kimchi Cream Pasta].

I slowly opened my eyes halfway and scanned the information I'd been given.

First, the types of monsters I'd be facing.

'Hmm, the enemy monsters are a Blade Maw, a Spider Lord, plus a Fire Wolf and a Water Elemental? Oh, they must have deliberately assembled this enemy combination.'

A pretty interesting enemy lineup.

With this, I could do some really fun things.

Next, the terrain.

'This is a basin, isn't it? And there's only one passage? Ha, well, that changes things. With ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠this, I could even pull off a no-hit clear, couldn't I?'

Finally, the given characters' status windows and item lists.

In absolute terms, the stats were woefully inadequate against four A-Rank Monsters, but I actually frowned.

'Ugh, they didn't need to load us up with this many items.......'

Honestly, kids these days don't know how precious consumable items are.

The information I'd taken in through my eyes combined, and a few simulations ran through my head.

The enemies' movement paths, their attack patterns, and how to achieve maximum efficiency—it all painted itself vividly across my mind's eye.

I moved my fingers and started with the character deployment.

'First, let's pull the Healers right out front. They have the lowest aggro values anyway. Then the Damage Dealers go in the back, and the Tank...... we don't need one. Yeah, you, go stand way over there and spin around in circles.'

Tap.

Tap.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Anyone watching would call it an insane deployment, but I was certain this would produce the best possible efficiency.

Next, I stripped away all the held items.

'Loading you up with items like this is low-test behavior.'

Well, to be honest, this wasn't my account, so using them wouldn't actually cost me anything. But still.

'The Blade Maw comes first. After we send them in....... Then the ones following behind are the Spider Lord and the Fire Wolf. We hit them with the exact damage from the side, then dodge. That way.......'

Tap, tap.

Predicting the enemies' attack ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠ranges, my fingers moved busily, designating the Healers' movement paths.

I didn't touch the Damage Dealers. They'd be blocked by the Healers anyway.

'So like this....... Medic Hill Block COMPLETE!!!'

I nodded, satisfied with the beautifully crafted plan.

Truthfully, though I'd labeled it "Medic Hill Block," the actual method was to make the enemies fight each other.

Of course, if the movement paths were off by even a single step, it was a strategy that would turn the Healers into ground meat,

but, well. If I can't pull this off, then the cheese-build artisan, the fixed nickname [Kimchi Cream Pasta], ought to retire.

The enemies' elemental affinities were structured perfectly to damage each other, which made crafting the strategy truly easy.

'The instructor must've drawn up this picture from the start. As expected, Velvet Hunter Academy instructors are just built different, I guess.'

This course's instructor. I rather liked him.

'Loading us up with too many items is a little low-test, but this much is excellent.'

A fellow cheese-build grinder. And a man, to boot.

I felt my affection for him sprout right up at the pleasant sense of having met a kindred spirit who could understand me.

I turned my head and grinned at the cold-looking instructor.

* * *

'......Does this really work?'

Park Jin-soo, the instructor in charge of Understanding Party Roles, Formations, and Organization.

Staring at the holographic window before him, his normally cold face grew even stiffer.

What he'd originally meant to teach in this class were the interrelations between giant monsters and strategies utilizing terrain and items.

The Tank takes the lead, and the Healers concentrate their healing on the Tank.

Then, using their respective skills, they'd herd the monsters into a single spot.

After that, they'd all use the "Acid Solution" item everyone had equipped.

With all the monsters in confusion, the Tanks and Healers would be pulled back,

and by exploiting the terrain to fight the enemies with the Damage Dealers alone, it was programmed so they could narrowly achieve victory.

A problem that was quite difficult but solvable if you thought deeply about it.

In other words, this problem had a fixed answer.

'He induced internecine strife among the monsters.......'

Sure, he had arranged monsters that influenced one another.

But that was meant to sustain the confusion once it set in,

not to make the enemies destroy each other like this.

And yet, it was happening right before his eyes.

The Healers drew each monster's aggro, walking a razor's edge where a single misstep meant disaster. And then they returned to the top of the hill.

The result.

The monsters began fighting one another.

To keep any one monster from winning overwhelmingly, the Healers managed the enemies' HP from atop the hill.

The Damage Dealers, who had been hiding in the back, used their skills at the exact moment the enemies attacked each other, shaving down the monsters' HP without drawing aggro, not a sliver of error in their timing.

It was as if the two Healers had become Tanks while the Damage Dealers attacked with impunity from behind!

And since the Healers were even adjusting the monsters' HP to stay identical, they would likely all collapse simultaneously at the very end.

Zero damage taken.

The Tank, who was originally supposed to mitigate their damage, had been left far away, spinning alone in circles.

'......What in the world.'

A tingling chill crept down his spine.

Park Jin-soo looked at the cadet standing beside him as if eyeing an inscrutable being.

At that, the male cadet turned his head and pulled his lips into a smirk.

A shudder—

'......!'

Only then did Park Jin-soo realize that the male cadet he'd called forward had a somewhat unusual appearance.

Hadn't there been talk of a male cadet singled out by that monster of a woman?

A ridiculously handsome male student with black hair and black eyes, at that.

Next, the instructor's gaze drifted to the back of the cadet's hand.

'A Subspace Tattoo......!'

The male-quota cadet who had subjugated a Demonized Human as soon as he'd enrolled!

'Mad Dog of Slaughter......!'

In an instant, cold sweat beaded on Park Jin-soo's brow.

*

— Grooooooar.......

— Grrrrk.......

— Graaaaaar.......

— Keeeer.......

At last, their HP whittled down by each other's attacks and the Damage Dealers' attacks, the four A-Rank Monsters collapsed simultaneously before their eyes.

Jin Yu-ha had produced an outcome where the monsters destroyed each other without a single sliver of HP being lost.

At this display, the cadets buzzed, asking if this was how the lesson was originally meant to be solved.

A slicing chill ran through Shin Se-hee as she rubbed her arms.

'......This is the power of future knowledge!'