These Bastards Are Earth's Representatives

On the final day of the week-long expedition.

Having methodically driven the high elves back into their capital, the high rankers prepared for the last battle.

Walls rose like colossal buildings. The marble-white ramparts, reinforced by magic, held firm against the high rankers' assaults.

At the head of a thousand high rankers and several thousand rankers stood their leaders. Yeoje and Captain stood side by side, gazing at the massive gates.

"Mage corps ready?"

"Ten minutes left!"

"Guild Leader Ji Yeeun, are you prepared?"

"Finished ages ago."

Earth's representative awakeners had gathered in one place. The command post where the guild leaders met remained relatively calm, but the people below told a different story.

"Our Guardian Guild takes the central vanguard. The rest of you figure it out yourselves."

"Ha! You come at us like that and we'll just charge in, formation be damned!"

"You think this expedition lasts forever? Once we're back on Earth..."

Who would take which part of the assault. The situation was tense enough that bloodshed would not have been surprising—except the system made fighting among expedition members impossible.

"Assault begins in three minutes! Everyone out!"

"Tch, do whatever you want!"

The meeting collapsed without a single agreement. Cheon Seoah emerged from the conference room and approached Ji Yeeun.

"These things are Earth's representatives? They're nothing but a complete rabble."

"Is this the first day? We just do our own jobs."

Back on Earth, Yeoje or Captain would have mediated such disputes. But an expedition gathered people from every guild. Fair distribution was impossible.

The result: a thousand high rankers and thousands of rankers packed into one place, yet without any real tactics they simply clustered by guild in complete disorder. Only the mages drafted from each guild had gathered separately to prepare a magical bombardment.

"Ready."

"Begin."

With Yeoje's consent, Captain launched the High Elf Queen hunt. At his command, the prepared mage corps sent elemental magics streaking into the sky.

Boom-boom-boom-boom!

Spells that looked ready to set the city ablaze slammed into a white veil and detonated. The defensive ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠barrier protecting the high elves' capital.

Dispel magics poured onto the barrier next.

Sizzle! Hissss!!

Holes began opening across the barrier like paper touched by acid.

"Yeeun."

"Yes, unnie."

Ji Yeeun, already prepared, released her bowstring.

Thwip!

The arrow soared, then split, multiplying into hundreds. As if each shaft possessed a will of its own, they scattered and slipped through the holes in the barrier. Mana-charged arrows streaked like guided missiles into the positions she had already mapped.

Boom-boom!!

Massive flames erupted throughout the high elf city. Moments later the white veil enveloping it vanished.

"Go!"

"I'm first!"

Confirming the barrier was gone, the awakeners raced toward the walls in a free-for-all.

"Stop the humans!"

As the awakeners closed in, high elves hidden atop the walls appeared and loosed arrows.

"Gah!"

"H-healer!"

Some awakeners blocked the arrows with their own methods, but the relatively weaker rankers took shafts and went down.

"Tch. All greed and no sense."

"I'll handle it."

Seeing the scene, Yeoje rose and flicked her hand lightly.

Whoooosh!!!

Enormous whirlwinds sprang up along the walls, devouring the high elves' arrows. While Yeoje pinned the elves down, the awakeners reached the gates and hurled aura at the doors and walls in a frenzy.

Craaack!

"What the hell?! Why is this so tough!"

"The reinforcement magic is gone, right?!"

Their attacks left only shallow scratches on the gates and walls, scoring ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠no real damage. Watching from a distance, Captain stood.

"Satisfied yet?"

"My thanks. Even if they are fellow countrymen, it was time to tighten the reins."

"Tch. Fellow countrymen? What's so lovable about that rabble."

Normally leaders like Yeoje and Captain would spearhead a critical assault like this. At Yeoje's suggestion, however, priority had gone to the relatively lower-ranked high rankers.

"Do you remember the last time we showed our full strength?"

"Three years and eight months ago. The Berlin reclamation."

"Exactly. We've been too lenient for too long. Watching this expedition, they've gotten far too bold."

By Yeoje and Captain's original judgment they should have taken the High Elf Queen on day five. The expedition members' lack of cooperation had delayed the schedule.

Captain kicked off and shot toward the gates. A distance that would take other high rankers more than a minute; he covered it in under ten seconds.

"Everyone clear out."

"Huh? Captain?"

"Huk! Get clear!"

The Tower expelled whoever struck first in a fight between expedition members—but it paid no mind to collateral damage during combat with monsters. Since the other awakeners could not break the gates, anyone who got in Captain's way now would be the one expelled.

"These bastards are Earth's representatives... I miss Yujin. There were so few people I could actually talk to."

Preparations complete, Captain swung his sword. The blade cut empty air without a sound.

"What? Did the attack fail?"

"Even the great Captain can't break thr—"

Rumble-rumble-rumble...

Moments later the ground shook as the upper section of the wall began sliding backward. The massive gates sheared diagonally; the top half crashed to the ground.

KRA-KOOM!!!!

Walls over a hundred meters high, laced with trap magics, toppled backward and buried part of the city.

"...What?"

Of the hundred-meter walls, only two or three meters remained—just enough to prove a wall had once stood there. Beyond the remnant, a clear road opened straight toward the inner citadel.

"The High Elf Queen hunt is for those Yeoje and I permit. Any objections?"

"..."

"If you understand, get into the city. I'll even let you have the small fry."

"Let's finish this quick and rest."

"Coming with you, Mei unnie!"

Captain, Yeoje, and the dozen or so top high rankers granted permission for the Queen raid headed for the inner citadel. A few quick-witted awakeners avoided the citadel entirely and sprinted for the city's outskirts.

"Fuck, who said Captain was mid..."

"High rankers are all about the same? Damn it, first thing back on Earth I'm replacing my strategist."

The Tower was a place of extreme rich-get-richer disparity. The gap between the absolute pinnacle of Hard difficulty—Yeoje and Captain—and the merely decent high rankers was the difference between heaven and earth.

"High Elf Queen, they said. She's far weaker than last time."

"We've simply grown stronger."

Yeoje recalled the S-rank Gate that had once appeared on Earth, where they had slain a High ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Elf Queen. Earth's top awakeners had gathered and paid a heavy price in lives to bring her down. This time it had only taken longer; they had finished without a single casualty.

"Would be nice if the Tower opened expeditions more often..."

Ji Yeeun murmured while checking their haul.

"The Tower has its own thoughts. More importantly, Captain—are preparations for the 92nd floor ready?"

"Three days after the expedition ends. Monday, 14:00 U.S. time, correct?"

"Prepare well. We will clear it this time."

"We can clear it without you, Yeoje."

"Fine. Just pick good people. With that lineup we might even push to the 100th floor... Hm?"

Mid-conversation with Captain, Yeoje turned her head.

"What? What is it?"

Her sudden movement drew every gaze. Yeoje's eyes fixed on the forest beyond the shattered terrace. The inner citadel, wrecked during the Queen fight, had lost its ceiling; the woods outside the city were visible.

"Something is coming."

"Could be high elves that survived in other regions."

"No. Those are clearly the footsteps of monsters..."

"Save meeeee!!!"

A woman's voice carried faintly from afar.

Rumble-rumble-rumble...

At the same time the ground shook and massive trees swayed.

"Is that... a person?"

"A native?"

"That outfit's a hoodie, though?"

People had already gathered beside Yeoje, spotting the girl sprinting from the forest. Behind her, mountain-sized monsters smashed through trees in pursuit.

"Lucia! Do something!"

"I'm the one holding them back so you're still alive!"

"Drop the casual speech!"

"Is that what matters right now?!"

Beside the girl floated a black spectral form, glaring at the approaching monsters.

"For now, let's help her."

Yeoje flicked her hand lightly; the monsters clinging to the girl's back were blasted away.

"Huh?! Thank you!"

The girl reached the city, leapt hard, and landed on the open terrace. The black armor covering her legs vanished, revealing pale skin.

"Hah, hah... Fuck, I actually lived through that?!"

"Then why step on the trap in the first place!"

"You think I stepped on it on purpose?!"

"So be more careful..."

"Huk! We're out of time!"

Still arguing with the black ghost, the girl immediately sprinted toward the High Elf Queen's corpse. The high rankers had already finished looting; only the body remained. She dug into the terrace floor and created a purple pool.

"You're not using this corpse, right? I'll take it!"

"Huh?"

"Sorry for freeloading! I'll pay it all back later!"

She dumped the Queen's body into the pool, then dragged over the corpses of the high elf royal guard nearby. After dissolving every corpse in the purple pool, she left the citadel and headed into the city.

Silence settled over the terrace as if a storm had passed. Glancing around, Ji Yeeun carefully approached Yeoje.

"Mei unnie. That girl..."

"A face I've never seen. And appearing for the first time at this moment means..."

Yeoje's gaze shifted to the system window.

The Impossible-difficulty user who had claimed overwhelming first place from the very first expedition and made a name for herself. Of course, the chance she was simply a high ranker who had been hiding was not zero...

"The odds that a summoner high ranker who's been hiding all this time suddenly appears in front of us... or the odds that girl is the Impossible user. What do you think, Mei unnie?"

"You're certain she's a summoner?"

"Of course. What else would an awakener who commands a dark spirit be?"

"True enough."

Yeoje nodded at Ji Yeeun's words. Certainty was impossible, but the circumstantial evidence was far too clear.

"To hide all this time and then suddenly reveal herself?"

"May I offer an explanation?"

A man wearing a wooden mask approached the troubled Ji Yeeun.

"Ah, Puppet King..."

"Please call me Pragnan. Even for me, the 'King' nickname is a bit embarrassing."

"Pragnan-nim, what exactly did that girl just do?"

"From the looks of it, she uses monster corpses to strengthen her abilities."

Pragnan summoned one of the dolls currently hunting in the city. Humanoid in form yet a ball-jointed figure of wood, a saw-toothed blade attached to its hand—something straight out of a B-grade slasher film.

"I command children not made from living flesh, but there are many summoner friends who are different."

"We have summoners in our guild too. But I've never heard of one using monster corpses."

"Among summoners, there are extremely rare cases of summons that grow stronger by devouring similar species. Spirit-type summons, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠for example, sometimes consume other spirits to become stronger."

Ji Yeeun's gaze turned to the purple pool the girl had made.

"So that means it's a species similar to high elves...?"

"That far, even I don't..."

"Wait. Doesn't that color look a lot like a Void Pond?"

A Black high ranker who had been listening pointed at the purple pool.

"Isn't that a stretch? Void Ponds are enormous."

"Well, I know that, but..."

The Black woman beside him smacked the man's shoulder.

"In any case, something interesting happened at the end of the expedition. Those look like the little one's gift, so let's go clean them up."

Yeoje pointed to the S-rank monsters still bound by wind in the forest.

"Placing a debt on the Impossible-difficulty user... The future just got interesting."

Yeoje left the terrace for the forest, determined to claim a few more points.