The Assassin
An assassin.
If the thief class was the mild ramen, then the assassin class was like fiery stir-fried noodles.
With a full suite of stealth skills, follow-up combos, and status-effect chains that ended enemies in a single fatal strike, skilled assassins were the absolute nightmare for any enemy commander.
But that very power came with a long list of drawbacks.
For starters, they were almost useless in parties or larger-scale battles.
You could pick off the enemy mages, priests, or commanders, but in a group of three to five players you could never afford to leave your position vacant.
And that wasn’t even the half of it.
Because their skills were so specialized—item theft, backstabs, assassinations—they were constantly suspected of betrayal and had to play everything on the edge.
That was exactly why assassin users were rarely welcome in parties.
“A-ah….”
Bimill stuttered, eyes dropping to the floor.
“I’m… I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hide it, but… I’m not actually an assassin.”
“Not an assassin?”
“I have a hidden class, so I can’t just reveal it. Revealing it brings penalties…”
Fafnir tilted his head at Bimill’s answer.
“That’s the secret? You just spill everything the moment you’re asked?”
“Exactly. I’ve been using only the basic skills so far, so… please don’t hate my big sister too much…”
“Hey, no need.”
Fafnir shrugged and kept talking.
“From now on, just tell us in advance. Better safe than sorry.”
“I-is that all?”
“Yeah.”
Nothing too serious had happened, and as long as Bimill didn’t hide information anymore, there was no real problem.
“Y-yeah… thank you.”
“And Bimill, while you’re at it, focus on the orc leaders first—single-digit and ten-digit ranks. The regular grunts can wait.”
“Leaders…? Those who give the orders?”
“Yeah, keep your distance. Just take them out.”
“……Yes.”
With his orders given, Fafnir called more skeleton warriors and moved toward the next section.
Bimill’s eyes sparkled with something strange.
“The leaders….”
Fafnir’s words still echoed in her mind as she locked onto the targets.
“Fafnir said he wanted those guys dead.”
Smoothly, Bimill drew her blade and melted into the crowd of orcs.
Meanwhile, Fafnir rode his skeletal horse and swept the battlefield with his gaze.
“This flank can hold even if it falls back. In fact, it’ll be a good defensive position. ……This one, if broken, will cause real damage.”
He passed by every crisis and every favorable situation without stopping.
Then his horse halted.
“Here.”
Fafnir dismounted and shouted.
“Summon skeleton warriors!”
The corpses around him rose as skeleton warriors, filling the empty space.
Ahead, the orcs had pushed deep into a protruding rocky section. Fafnir blocked it with his remaining warriors and sprinted to the rear.
“Kyuaaa?!”
“Kyuiik!”
In the blink of an eye, the surrounded orcs were devoured. Experience points flowed in like water.
“Anyway, even if we play perfectly on the first day, it won’t look special. So let’s farm while we grow.”
If small outpost wins or losses didn’t matter, the smartest move was to eat as many experience points as possible.
The orcs’ levels were high, but the NPC army and user groups had already upgraded their gear and specs through multiple level-ups.
-Savagery increased!
-Attack power +3%!
Even the buffs that came from the high savagery.
Fafnir hunted to his heart’s content, leveled up twice more, and hit level 123.
And there was more.
“Commander, do not retreat!”
“Eh?”
“Push them harder!”
“If this is advice from an adventurer, I’ll take it. Everyone, advance!”
-Contribution degree: High!
-Kaeros the Earl accepts your advice.
By raising the contribution degree, Fafnir had convinced the commander to force the orcs into a relentless pursuit.
“It’s time to farm experience and money!”
“Kuuwaaa!”
The orcs who had been retreating were suddenly swept forward like a wave, and Fafnir’s sword danced.
***
-Battle of the United Front has ended. (Day 1)
-The Orc Empire holds a slight advantage on the right flank.
-Baran Kingdom holds a slight advantage on the left flank.
-Baran Kingdom holds a decisive advantage on the central front.
-Day 1 battle winner: “Baran Kingdom.”
-Baran Kingdom has achieved a significant victory in the United Front Day 1 battle.
-Scores are calculated per player.
-Scores are maintained until the event ends.
-Heroes who protected the kingdom shall receive honor and glory!
-Today’s MVP on the front lines is… the “Black Lion King.” Congratulations!
The first-day MVP was the guild master of the Black Lion Guild, Black Lion King.
A massive 10,000 points earned in one go.
Thanks to him, the entire left front was now a favorable battle map.
“Well, group battles really can’t be avoided.”
Still, Fafnir had earned over 6,000 points by himself.
For a pure solo player, that was first place.
If he hadn’t focused on experience, he could have earned even more, but since he was already dominating the top spot, focusing on exp was perfectly fine.
“Fafnir-nim!”
“……Hehe.”
The battle was over. Hilde’s group returned.
“We’re back.”
“Everyone’s still alive. Good thing you didn’t die.”
Not only Hilde’s group, but even the female user Bimill had put on an incredible performance.
“Truly, the future powerhouses… But I’ve never seen Bimill in the novel. Guess they don’t cross paths much with Hilde’s crew.”
“……Thank you for earlier.”
Drexler scratched his head and bowed.
He had wasted mana for show and received help from a necromancer, so his pride stung.
“Don’t worry about it. Helping each other is what party play is all about.”
Fafnir answered without thinking.
Veron, who had been quietly watching, spoke up.
“Hey, Fafnir-nim, you’re a necromancer but you fought better than me. Is it a hidden class?”
“What? No.”
“Then you’re even scarier than I thought. You must be terrifying in real life too.”
Fafnir found the praise oddly awkward.
“What? I just ate exp and did what I had to do. Why praise me for that?”
This time he hadn’t even chased contribution points; he had just taken the free exp that was lying around.
But to the other two it felt completely different.
No high-level NPC or boss mob, yet he summoned skeleton warriors while fighting at the front!
And sometimes he even had the luxury to retreat at the right moment to give new orders.
To two players who had gone all-out, Fafnir’s calm playstyle looked exactly like a hidden class.
“Thanks for your hard work today. I have other matters tomorrow, so I’ll fight separately, but I’ll be cheering you on.”
“Yes, see you tomorrow!”
After the group logged out, Fafnir headed to the next rear area.
“Hey, our business partner!”
The area full of delinquents and gangsters.
In the middle of it all, Kindorhan puffed on his whistle and looked up.
“Good timing. You’ve come just in time—big profits coming our way.”
The moment Kindorhan heard Fafnir’s plan, the Umigan gang started preparing in earnest.
They didn’t just fight themselves; they sold the items they bought from rear NPCs and users to the front, raking in a huge price difference.
“Today we couldn’t fight much because of joining up and restocking, but tomorrow we’re really going all out.”
At those words, the Umigan users and NPCs lifted their beer mugs.
“Let’s go!”
“No retreat—fight to the death!”
The image of little kids arriving at the beach on the night before summer vacation.
Fafnir made a slightly uneasy face.
“Kindorhan, I have something to say.”
“Eh?”
“It’s about the fight tomorrow and the day after.”
“E-Eh.”
While Kindorhan had been busy with joining and resupplying, Fafnir had been fighting the whole first day.
With all the intel he had gathered, he must have planned a solid strategy.
“So tell me—what do we do?”
“Tomorrow you guys….”
Fafnir whispered the instructions quietly in his ear.
“What?”
Kindorhan’s face immediately turned worried.
***
The next day.
“Aaaah! I’m losing my mind!”
From the rear of the front line, Kindorhan shouted at the top of his lungs.
“What the hell is this?!
He was one second away from actually losing it.
The night before.
Fafnir had gathered the Umigan gang with high expectations and given one order.
“Do not step onto the battlefield and fight. Focus entirely on defense while conserving your strength to the maximum.”
Anyone who broke the order would be immediately expelled from the partnership.
Kindorhan and his men immediately protested.
“Is this right? Everyone else is up front making bank while we sit here with no exp to farm…”
Umigan was fundamentally a gang of short-term explosive power users.
They were strong in quick fights, but weak in prolonged battles or defensive ones.
In Kindorhan’s eyes, this meant the plan deliberately ignored their strengths and only created weaknesses—just to watch the show.
“Is this really the right call?”
“It is.”
Fafnir answered calmly.
“Everything is planned. I can’t tell you right now because of circumstances, but tomorrow I will.”
“What plan is so important?”
Kindorhan tried to press him, but Fafnir simply gave another order instead.
It was only natural.
Even in the middle of fighting, every action, word, and message from Fafnir was being recorded by the supercomputer in charge of the system—Polaris.
If he told them the “novel knowledge” version of the story, they would have no idea what to do when something suddenly went wrong.
“If you don’t trust me, you can just fight up front. But remember, you’ll be the one taking responsibility.”
“Damn… If we actually lose, that responsibility will be even bigger.”
Kindorhan grumbled and tried to control the Umigan members.
While he did, Fafnir looked ahead.
“Waaah!”
“Charge!”
The Black Lion and multiple controlled guilds pushed the orc soldiers relentlessly.
Not just the center front—on both sides the orcs were being pushed back and the lines began to waver.
“It’s about time.”
If he had been the commander, Fafnir would not have missed this moment.
“Push th… wait?”
The players who had been pushing were suddenly frozen.
The orcs that had been retreating were now retreating for real, replaced by red orcs—or blue orcs—standing in place.
“Kuaaaaa!”
“Kua!”
The orcs roared once, then charged forward with terrifying momentum.
“Hah, the morale is good but it’s the same as before.”
Smoothly, one Black Lion member stepped forward.
“That’s our marked guy!”
The moment the other users protested.
Thwack!
The Black Lion’s head was driven straight into his body.
Even if the pain sync system was weak, that was a death so brutal it would leave anyone sore for days.
“Eh?”
“What?”
The atmosphere turned ice-cold.
The red orc let out a roar.
“Kuaaa! Now!”
“Kaaa!”
“Kua!”
The hesitating orcs all roared at once.
That was the signal. The orc attack began.
“Uwah?”
“W-what’s going on?!”
“Why are these guys so strong?”
Not only the users, but the NPC knights were also being pushed back.
No major difference from before, yet the entire front suddenly began collapsing.
-Orc savagery has increased!
-Orcs have received excellent command buffs.
-Orcs have received frontline commander buffs.
Fafnir understood instantly.
The commanders among the orcs had spread those buffs!
The military guilds that had been holding out thanks to gear were now no match for the stronger orc specs and command.
“Focus fire! Where are the knight units?”
Even the high-paid instructors and mid-level officers brought in for money were no help.
Modern war tactics and medieval tactics were completely different, and with magic and monsters mixed in, old strategies were useless.
“What the….”
Kindorhan stared at the hell in front of him, mouth agape.
“I told you not to go out there… Did you see this coming?”
“Well…”
“If you saw it coming, you’re actually amazing… Anyway, thanks to you I’m alive. The guys over there are alive too.”
The Umigan gang members and NPCs were trembling as they watched the front.
“Hey, should we run? It looks pretty serious…”
“No, wait.”
Fafnir shook his head.
“There’s no need to run yet. The counterattack is about to start.”
Several guilds had lent their strength, but among the user guilds that had not yet joined, there was one still waiting.
“Five Star… that megacorp guild backed by the Ohsung Group is finally showing up.”
The largest guild in the original novel, Five Star, had entered the front of the story for the very first time in this battle.