Northern Defense (2)

Monday morning. I paced back and forth in front of the lecture hall door, taking a moment to deny reality.

"Why is it Monday already?"

"Dorm... no, I wanna go home..."

To shake off this exhaustion, even the comfy dorm bed wasn't enough. I needed about three days of lounging on my family's custom bedding, gorging on the chef's special desserts, before I'd feel normal again.

Weekdays buried in the library, weekends grinding away my mental energy in the Status Window—no wonder my body didn't feel like mine anymore. My head was steaming hot, my eyes dry as a desert—and that was just the start.

"I was just lying there the whole time... why am I this wrecked..."

But there was no helping it. I could only curse my past self for all that aimless fooling around.

With a sigh, I shuffled into the lecture hall. Almost no empty seats left.

"Chase, good to see ya."

Yaruru, parked in the corner staring at her mana panel, sensed me without even turning her head.

"What. How'd you know it was me?"

I blinked as I went to sit down.

"Anyone showing up this late and plopping down next to me? Only you, Chase."

"..."

Couldn't argue with that. People in this world were all paragons ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of diligence.

I flopped into the seat next to Yaruru and let my heavy body slump. She didn't glance my way once the whole time. A peek at her mana panel screen showed her mid-run on Dodge the Fireball.

Thanks, Yaruru. Thanks to you, I could grab that coffee yesterday.

Like I'd thought before, she was hooked on Dodge the Fireball. When the real-life dodging craze first blew up on the community boards, she'd spammed posts about it. Now it was a full-on challenge, and she'd hit the training grounds after every lecture.

"You're addicted to that game."

"One quick round wakes me up from morning grogginess, ya know."

"...Doesn't look quick to me."

"It's light by my standards, ya."

Right then—

Thung—thung—thudung!

The fireballs traced beautiful arcs, hitting off-beat. Yaruru's character retired spectacularly.

"Eek..."

"U... um, sorry."

Only after the short scream and collapse did Yaruru finally turn to me.

"......"

Her eyes, now twice their usual size.

"What. Why are you staring like that?"

"Chase."

"Yeah?"

"Did a girl dump you or something...?!"

"No!"

She flinched at my instant denial.

"Then why do you look so wrecked, ya know..."

"..."

Her unintended gut punch left me speechless. Explaining would take too long... way too long...

Ugh, my head.

My head throbbed just thinking about it, so I faceplanted onto the desk.

"Theresorealanlotgoingon."

"...Huh?"

"I'mtired."

"Now you're not even speaking right, ya..."

"Hadtobethisway..."

"S-scary, ya."

Balancing was scary, yeah.

# At first, I thought it'd be quick. Really. For real.

Unit designs locked in, map and BGM done smooth. Monster ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠data piled high.

This'll wrap up fast, no sweat.

Totally wrong.

"Alright. Basic setup first."

High on finishing unit designs, I pulled up monster prototypes. The most memorable ones from my research—ones with distinct traits. Saga Wolf, Ice-Armored Boar, Aurora Penguin.

Speed type, defense type, flying type. Clean role division at a glance. Solid for early-game wave carrying.

But the snag hit elsewhere.

"What the—no, why?!"

First wave cleared easy with low-tier units. Second too.

Then third wave started. One Aurora Penguin rocketed like ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a missile, slamming behind the tankers and wreaking havoc.

Tankers blocked upfront fine, but aggro pulled from attackers, mobs didn't process... monsters overflowed the tank limit and charged the walls.

"...?"

Shoooo—squawk!

"...Again."

"..."

Stuck in the loop, I paused and opened the combat log.

"Spawn rate at 100 means it always happens..."

Plus the unit's specs sucked. Flying, so ground attacks whiffed, no blocking possible.

Not an occasional nuisance—it was a "how do I even stop this?!" rage-monster. Straight-up broken.

Game dev rule one: Manage player stress.

"Looks manageable" = win.

"How do you block this? Penguin OP!" = fail.

This was pure fail.

"This should do it."

Post-tweak tests went smoother. No instant missile nukes at least.

But fix one leak, another springs. Ice-Armored Boar.

Penguins insta-lost games; this was bad level scaling.

Slow, huge, tanky, occasional big hits. I'd nerfed speed first, so seemed fair.

But...

"...Why won't it die."

Wave 5+, enemy specs spike. High-tier tank, low+high attackers x2, support x1. Luxe setup for one mob.

Still melted my high-tier tank instead.

"Ah... HP-proportional attack boost?"

Waves 5+ give random specials. HP scaling + special turned it into a boss.

"...You need nerfs too."

Not a boss—just mid-tension spike. Low-prob high-spec boar...

"Not a tank, a full tank."

OP defense + attack.

After endless nerfs, it became "don't slack, but full focus kills it."

Rubbing my pounding head, I tested the last: Saga Wolf.

But...

"Not you too... I'm gonna cry..."

Realism meant packs—aggro scatters. Singles? Low-tier hero awaken one-shots trash.

"...Tricky."

Nerf speed? Useless fodder.

I stretched my stiff neck, head bowed deep.

"Ugh, balancing sucks."

But not entirely. Buff/nerf razor edges. Too low: boring. Too high: unfair. Thrilling tightrope.

Problem: Damage outweighed the fun.

"Tightrope on my sanity..."

Still weekend in real time. Balanced mobs enough—next: 3☆+ awakenings.

Low-tiers easy—awakes scale with ☆.

3☆+? Critical. Performance, visuals, design pump player highs.

First, the poster child:

Before Wave 7, I 5-awakened Valkyria Valkar.

Truth: Raw spec ups tiny. +1% atk speed, +1% range. Barely noticeable.

Motion/effects beat 4-awake, but... just 1%. Tiny tick, world changes.

Monsters nowhere near tanks shredded by her attacks.

"..."

I stared at results and logs forever before muttering.

"...Why?"

Replay, replay—same. Hands over face, slumped.

"Why! Why! Just, just! 1%?! Why? Kieeeek!!!!"

Not an awaken button. A clear-game answer key.

Evil button that shouldn't exist. Kills player choice... forces it.

Yeah, awakens buff units. But can't be the only answer.

"Nerf... time?"

I bit my lip, rebuilt structure. Units A-to-Z.

Meaning...

"Ah. All 4☆+ need fixes?"

"..."

Bye-bye, pretty weekend...

"...That's how it went."

My inner lament ended.

"Chase! Lecture's over—why're you still snoozing, ya?!"

Yaruru's voice jolted my head up.

"Wha—huh?"

When did it start?! Half the hall empty already.

Blank stare at Yaruru—she gave me a deadpan look.

"Eyes were dead from midway, ya."

"...They were wide open?"

"Dead with eyes open, ya."

"Harsh."

I staggered up.

"Ha... anyway, weekend wrecked me."

"So... not a girl problem, ya?"

"Hold up. Story's not advancing."

"Was a solid theory, ya."

"Sometimes I wonder what goes on in that head."

Grabbed bag, out the hall. Lunchtime—courtyard buzzing.

Yaruru kept pace, tapping her mana panel.

"What do ya think of the North?"

"North?"

"Yeah. Prof said 2nd-years+ can volunteer for monster waves, ya."

I blanked at her. Vaguely recalled...

"Needs faculty approval, ya."

"Real combat for performance eval?"

"Yup. Extra credit too, ya."

"Doubt many'd go for that..."

Her chatter dropped off. We walked in silence.

As crowds thinned...

She looked up. "Chase, you going North, ya?"

"North... why?"

Pitying eyes.

"...Sorry. No sleep all weekend—brain's fried."

"Sigh... what I just said, ya."

"Oh, that. Nah."

I shook my head hard.

"I'd die in under a minute if waves hit."

She halted.

"...Ya."

"Huh? What?"

She twitched, awkward head turn.

"Nothing, ya!"

"What, sudden weirdness."

"Lunch curry katsu—gotta hurry, ya!"

Instant alertness.

"Curry katsu?"

"Yup!"

"Can't miss that."

Dead body surged with energy.

"Yaruru, run!"

"Yeah!"

We bolted together.

Waves, balancing hell—pushed aside.

One thing mattered: Curry katsu sells out if late.

That alone.