Missile Launch Preparations Complete
Missile launch preparations complete.
Mode Name: Red Button
“Ah.”
The moment I saw the words etched on the blue window, something I had briefly forgotten came rushing back.
The mod I had installed to clear this garbage-tier rift difficulty was called Red Button.
“Can I actually use this?”
I reached toward the blue window. A sharp crack! of sparks leapt out. Right after, blue particles born with those sparks gathered in the empty air just in front of the window. When the clump of particles grew to about the size of a fist, a brilliant flash exploded and blinded me.
“Ack!”
A scream tore out of me at the sudden eye-searing light.
“What the hell was that all of a sudden… huh?”
I had squeezed my eyes shut against the burst of light. When I opened them again, a translucent red button floated in the exact spot where the particle clump had been.
“It’s a real red button… Should I press it?”
When a nice, pressable red button appears right in front of your face, the human instinct is to push it. Following that perfectly natural urge, I was just about to press the button when another translucent window popped up in front of it and blocked my finger.
Crack Kingdom — Red Button Mode Activation Complete
Notification: There is one unread event remaining.
Would you like to view it? Yes / No
“An event?”
What floated before my eyes was a phrase no gamer could ever ignore.
Thirty minutes until the beast horde wiped out the family and tore me limb from limb… No. Wait. I had wasted way too much time just accepting that this was reality. Fifteen minutes had already slipped by.
“Fine. It’s not like I have any other options.”
Even with less than fifteen minutes left before I died, I pressed Yes without a second of hesitation. Stay still and die, run and die, succeed in running and still die—that was the situation. No matter what I did, dismemberment was waiting. Right now, this red button and the blue window in front of me were my only hope.
“Please… just let me survive…!”
While the screen transitioned after I hit Yes, I squeezed my eyes shut, clasped my hands together, and prayed with everything I had. The single desperate wish to live filled my head and chest completely.
When I opened my eyes again, carrying a more earnest hope than I had ever felt before—
A special preview event commemorating the first activation of the Red Button for Sprout User has been activated!
“…It actually worked.”
Hope itself had unfolded right in front of me.
Press the button and a designated missile will launch — that is the Red Button!
Normally you would need to meet the conditions to unlock a missile and consume the resources required to manufacture it before you could fire.
But! For a Sprout User just starting Red Button Mode for the first time, fulfilling all those conditions would be extremely difficult!
That is why we at Red Button Mode have prepared a special preview event just for you, Sprout User!
For one time only, you may fire any single missile from the entire Red Button Catalog with absolutely no restrictions!
“This is real.”
The special preview event for Sprout Users that appeared before my eyes was special in the truest sense of the word. Being able to use any one missile from the entire Red Button Mode catalog with zero restrictions…
“With this, I can avoid getting torn apart.”
Sprout User’s intent to use confirmed! Would you like to open the Red Button Catalog?
“Yes!”
With only about fifteen minutes—no, closer to twelve—left until the beast horde reached Termin Territory, I opened the Red Button Catalog at once.
Activated Missile List
MANPADS — [List]
Anti-Tank Missiles — [List]
Anti-Air Missiles — [List]
Anti-Ship Missiles — [List]
Anti-Submarine Missiles — [List]
…
…
…
“Whoa… look at that lineup.”
The moment I opened the catalog, a long list of missiles unfurled downward. Just seeing the categories without even the specific names was enough to make my heart race.
“I’d love to fire every single one of these, but that’s not what I need right now.”
Every missile listed in the catalog was the kind of thing that made a man’s heart pound—true, high-octane hardware. But none of them were what I needed at this moment. I scrolled all the way down the catalog with my finger and selected the one waiting at the very bottom.
“Yeah. This is the one.”
Ballistic / Quasi-Ballistic Missiles — [List]
The mere name made my heart hammer and something lower down tighten. Ballistic missiles.
“Ugh… I can’t wait any longer.”
Rina, the sole maid and head maid of the Termin baronial house, could no longer stand by and wait for Offen in silence. Less than five minutes remained until the beast horde reached Termin Territory.
“I have to call him.”
Of course Rina knew Offen had no real countermeasure. The crisis about to strike Termin Territory was a catastrophe no one in this world could resolve. Even the sacred subjugation force gathered under the exalted royal command had been annihilated in a single day before the beast horde. There was no way the third son of a small, modest baronial house could stand against such a disaster.
Yet Rina still sought Offen because he was the highest-ranking person in the territory. Position carried responsibility, and the head of a house was the one who had to stand at the very front. Even if unavoidable destruction stood right at the door, a lord was supposed to lead his people. Reminding her master of that duty was the true calling of a maid.
Rumble… rumble… rumble…
Feeling the distant tremor of the earth, Rina bit her lower lip hard and gripped the doorknob of the lord’s office.
Young Master, this is no time to throw a tantrum. I know the sudden reality is terrifying and hard, but you are the lord now, so you must act like one. Yes—that’s what I’ll say. I’ll remind him of a lord’s responsibility.
Having decided her words, Rina turned the knob and opened the office door.
Click—
“Young Master, this is no time to throw a tan—”
The speech she had prepared never finished.
“Rina! Follow me!”
The instant the door opened, Offen burst out, seized her wrist, and dragged her along at a dead run.
“Y-Young Master? Where are you going in such a hurry all of a sudden? A-Are you trying to run away?! You can’t, Young Master! You are the head of the Termin family, and a lord has the duty to protect his territory! Even if you abandon that duty and flee, the only thing waiting for you is death by dismemberment!”
Rina kept pace with him, matching his stride while her wrist remained caught in his grip. Adjusting her speed so she would never hinder her master’s path, all while delivering pointed advice—that was the very picture of a true maid.
“I already know that!”
Of course Offen already knew that flight would only lead to being torn apart, so Rina’s advice was nothing more than empty nagging.
“If you know that, why are you doing this?! You are the lord! What you should be doing right now is warning the people of the territory who know nothing about the disaster about to strike! Not running away like this!”
The entire way down the not-particularly-long mansion corridor, Rina kept up a nonstop stream of scolding.
“Damn it, you’re driving me crazy! Rina, I’m not running away!”
“Then what are you doing?!”
“I’m going to wipe out every last one of those damn monsters that dare try to mess with my territory!”
To shut down the nagging, Offen twisted his head back and gave her a rough summary of what he intended to do.
“W-What? What kind of nonsense is that all of a sudden?”
That was the only reply Rina could give. How was a bookish young master who had never even trained properly supposed to wipe out a beast horde that had annihilated the kingdom’s subjugation force in an instant?
While Rina harbored that perfectly reasonable doubt, Offen had already reached their destination—the central staircase of the mansion. The stairs led all the way to the rooftop.
“Rina, give me the rooftop key.”
“Haa… What on earth are you planning to do on the roof?”
“Just give it to me already! We’re out of time!”
“Ugh… Here.”
Without a single proper explanation, Offen essentially extorted the rooftop key and raced up the stairs. Watching his back as he took the steps three at a time, Rina muttered to herself.
“Is the last thing I hear from Young Master going to be ‘We’re out of time!’…? What a miserable end.”
Naturally, Rina held not the slightest expectation for Offen heading to the roof. She only felt sorrow that the final words she exchanged with the young master who was as good as family had been “Just give it to me already! We’re out of time!”
It did not take long for that sorrow to turn into pure shock.
Whoooosh—! Rumble-rumble-rumble-rumble—!
“Whoa, look at them coming.”
The moment I threw open the rooftop door of the mansion, I saw the beast horde advancing on Termin Territory from beyond the horizon, kicking up clouds of dust. They would arrive in three minutes. The second they did, Termin Territory would be reduced to a wasteland without a single blade of grass left standing. And, as a bonus, my limbs would get torn off too.
“But that’s only if I do nothing.”
I dragged my finger through the empty air. Blue particles gathered and formed the Red Button.
Rumble-rumble-rumble—!
Watching the beast horde close the distance at terrifying speed, I began the final check.
“One last check before we fire. Confirm settings.”
Displaying Red Button equipped missile settings!
“Missile classification?”
Short-range ballistic missile, SRBM!
“Warhead loaded?”
Nuclear warhead — hydrogen bomb!
“Estimated yield?”
500 kt TNT equivalent!
“Okay, check! Short-range ballistic missile, prepare to launch!”
Ziiing—
Settings confirmed with no problems. All that remained was to fire. The moment the words “prepare to launch” left my mouth, a massive dimensional gate opened in the empty air above my head. That gate was the launch tube itself—an enormous, rock-solid barrel ready to hurl a god of destruction straight into the rift.
Woooong—
Then the short-range ballistic missile I had designated slowly rose from the dimensional gate and revealed itself.
Missile launch preparations complete.
The missile was ready to fire. The instant I saw the ready notification, I lightly punched toward the Red Button and spoke.
“Fire.”
Click.