A Blueprint for Victory
What happens if you die on the Internet?
In the study guide I read when preparing for my Player License, there was an interview with a Player who had died on the Internet.
His interview began with this single sentence:
"There is nothing."
"The moment you die on the Internet, all your senses vanish. But soon, you realize you can open your eyes. When you do, light floods in—only, you realize it's not the light of the virtual world, but the familiar LED bulb of your own bedroom. That is what death on the Internet is. In short, you feel absolutely nothing. We can still go on living our lives in reality."
"Except, from that moment on, you can never connect to any network again."
"Not to the Internet, and not even to Intra-Maetan."
What became of that Player afterward was not written in the guide.
"Graaaaargh!"
A massive dragon materialized behind Yoo Hyeyeon.
Except for its tiny wings, it closely resembled a classic Western dragon. Its neck was short but thick, and its maw was cavernous.
"It's Go Yongwan's Polymorph skill! Oh my god, I can't believe I'm seeing this with my own eyes!" Lee Jun cried out, his voice trembling.
Go Yongwan? The man with the snake-like face who had spoken to me earlier?
That guy turned into a dragon?
The dragon—Go Yongwan—slammed its massive, heavy body down, trampling the multi-legged tank.
Though he couldn't pierce the tank's thick armor, he managed to crush its main chassis flat against the ground.
Kiiiiiing—!
The minigun mounted on top of the tank spun. Trrrrrrrrrrt!
Loaded with armor-piercing rounds that boasted a penetration power far eclipsing any infantry weapon, the minigun spewed fire at the dragon.
Clang! Clang-clang-clang! Clang!
The sound of metal clashing against metal.
Sparks flew every time the armor-piercing bullets struck the dragon's scales.
Yet, not a single bullet penetrated. Most ricocheted off the thick hide, and even when a lucky shot managed to shatter a scale, it immediately began to regenerate.
"Roaaargh!"
The dragon bit down on one of the multi-legged tank's legs.
The tank's composite steel armor clashed with the dragon's fangs.
Screeech.
In this battle of durability between the AI's cutting-edge materials science and a legendary creature, science won by a narrow margin.
The tank's outer leg armor dented, but the dragon's teeth shattered, raining down like gravel.
"The legs are the thickest part of a multi-legged tank's armor..."
The legs were both the tank's means of locomotion and its shield. It was a section robust enough to withstand a direct hit from self-propelled artillery.
To bypass the legs and land a clean hit, one had to attack a multi-legged tank from above.
Ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch!
The sound of air rapidly rupturing echoed from the multi-legged tank as a blue flash flickered.
It was the charging sound of the tank's most devastating weapon: the railgun.
— Pshooong!
"Gyaaaaargh!"
With a sharp hiss of displaced air, the tungsten projectile slammed into the dragon's torso.
An explosive boom resounded, and a shower of dragon scales peeled away.
The dragon retreated with a pained shriek, but the tank's railgun was capable of rapid fire.
— Pshooong!
— Pshoong!
— Pshoo!
The tank advanced step by step, concentrating its firepower on the dragon.
When the third railgun round struck, crimson blood erupted from the dragon's body.
And just as the fourth railgun shot was fired at the collapsed dragon—
— Pshoong!
Clang!
A knight clad in full plate armor stepped in front of the dragon.
The knight raised her arms in a defensive stance, meeting the railgun head-on.
Thud!
The ground heaved around the knight.
With every railgun round that struck her, the earth beneath her feet bucked as if it were about to flip over. The asphalt cracked, and paving stones shot into the air.
That's Guild Leader Baek Yeonju of the Sleeping Forest Guild.
CC said.
Come to think of it, I recalled her exchanging glances with Yoo Hyeyeon before the battle began. Did they know each other?
Incredible. She's dispersing all the kinetic energy and data from the railgun directly into the surrounding ground. That way, she doesn't take any damage at all.
"They say the Knight of Sleeping Forest is invincible as long as she stands on the ground," Lee Jun said excitedly. "She's called Maetan's Best Shield. They say there isn't an attack in this world that can pierce that plate armor."
Realizing the railgun was ineffective, the multi-legged tank began to stomp forward, closing the distance to the knight.
It intended to engage in close quarters. The tank's thick, cylindrical legs were formidable blunt weapons in their own right. It was a monster capable of bringing down buildings simply by pushing forward with raw strength.
The tank lifted its front leg to crush the plate-armored knight.
"Oh, no you don't. Not on my watch."
The ground beneath the tank rippled, turning into a swamp-like quagmire that began to swallow the machine.
More than half of the tank sank into the earth. It struggled desperately to break free, but the more it thrashed, the deeper it sank.
"Hup, hrrgh, and... up we go."
An old man floated in the air above the tank.
It was the old man who had introduced himself as Wan Dalho. He drifted lazily in the sky, and with every gesture of his hands, the ground churned and swallowed the tank further.
What incredible processing power. He's completely restructuring the physical properties of his surroundings. To alter physical properties to that degree, he has to fully comprehend the original characteristics and structure of the matter...
CC sent a message in admiration.
I asked quietly, "Is that impossible for you too?"
What are you talking about?! Of course I can do it! But... probably not as efficiently as him. He's bypassing calculations in a way I can't comprehend.
I figured it was a skill.
They said skills bypassed complex calculations, intuitively producing results without conscious thought.
It was an ability an AI, which had to calculate every single step to reach an answer, could never replicate.
"As expected of S-classes. They're bloody strong, I tell ya!"
"Yes. They are indeed the elites Maetan prides itself on."
I heard two men conversing beside me.
I turned to see the man in the black tailcoat suit and the Rank 1 Player standing there. No Taekyeong and Kang Sihyeon, if I recalled correctly.
They weren't participating in the battle, merely watching the S-class fight in spectator mode.
Lee Jun asked tentatively, "Are you two... not going to join?"
"With our abilities, dealing with a machine like that is a bit... tricky, y'see."
Despite his neat appearance and sharp suit, his thick, rustic Jeolla dialect was striking.
"My specialty is illusions, after all. Works well enough on folks or virtual bastards, but it don't do squat against a hunk of metal like that."
"I am in the same boat. Though it is embarrassing given my title as the Rank 1 Player... while I might excel in player-versus-player combat, I have no means of piercing that tank's thick outer shell," Kang Sihyeon said with a tinge of regret.
Yet, there was no real regret or apology on his face. An absolute trust in their comrades' strength was the foundation of their calm demeanor.
It was then.
Rumble...!
A heavy, reverberating boom shook the earth.
Looking toward the source of the sound, I saw one of the tank's legs severed and embedded in the ground.
"Hyaaaaaaaah!"
Yoo Hyeyeon unleashed a relentless barrage of attacks.
With every swing of her fists, the tank's armor plating buckled, finally tearing away under the dragon's subsequent strike.
The tank resisted by directing its minigun, railgun, and even missiles at Yoo Hyeyeon, the source of the assault, but the knight in full plate armor stood firmly by her side, blocking every single attack.
"Our guild leader is insanely strong..."
"The Sprout Guild Leader? She's so ridiculously strong it's not even funny. I reckon there's barely anyone in Maetan who could go toe-to-toe with her."
"She is a difficult opponent for me as well. She lands too many consecutive attacks in too short a window. It drastically limits my options. And to make matters worse, every single one of those blows is a critical hit..."
No Taekyeong and Kang Sihyeon spoke in unison.
"She is one terrifying lady."
Once the tank lost a leg, the rest happened in an instant.
Suddenly, ice materialized, freezing the tank in place. Seizing the opening, the other Players launched a coordinated assault. With every overlapping S-class attack, the tank was chipped away piece by piece. Finally, stripped of all its weaponry and legs, it collapsed onto the ground, completely immobilized.
"Haa... haa..."
"Whew, I'm beat. It's been a while since I moved this much."
"Yongwan, are you okay? It's been ages since I last saw you bleed."
"Grrr."
The S-class Players who had participated in the battle, along with the dragon, slumped to the ground, panting heavily.
"Did you see that, viewers?! Humanity has finally triumphed over the Machine Species' main battle tank! And it was an overwhelming victory with zero casualties! We have finally seen hope! The hope that we can reclaim our home!"
Ham Chunghoon, who had been hiding, resumed his broadcast.
His sensational, dramatic voice echoed across Uijeongbu.
Listening to his commentary, I voiced the question that had been lingering in my mind.
"But what is the point of this fight?"
"Huh?"
Lee Jun, No Taekyeong, and Kang Sihyeon turned to look at me.
"On the Internet, Players possess anomalous abilities that can warp the laws of reality. So of course you can achieve an overwhelming victory against a multi-legged tank here. But so what? When we face a multi-legged tank in reality, we won't have the power to turn into dragons, nor will we have armor that disperses all kinetic energy."
In the end, all of this was just a show.
Even if they won here, it wouldn't help them in reality.
"How pragmatic," Kang Sihyeon said. "As you said, this does absolutely nothing to help us fight the Machine Species in the real world."
"But it'll still help the folks living in Maetan."
"Humanity has done nothing but lose for far too long. It's been, what, fourteen years since the war started? It's been a continuous string of defeats. Humanity has become so miserable that we're forced to hide behind the walls of a fortified city."
"We've gotta let 'em taste victory, even if it's a hollow one. If you do nothing but lose... eventually, you forget how to win altogether."
"We will study how to defeat a real multi-legged tank from now on. This battle serves to draw up a blueprint for victory before we do."
The two S-class Players explained the significance of the battle.
The experience of winning.
Maetan was relatively livable compared to the rest of this ruined world, but it was undeniably decaying.
Resources had dwindled, public order had deteriorated, and life had become harsher than when I first arrived.
They were saying that what Maetan needed right now was hope for tomorrow.
"I see. I underst—"
Mister, dodge!!
A sharp, electric jolt shot down my spine.
Activating Strong Arm, I grabbed Lee Jun, pulled him close, and lunged to the side.
A beam of blue light pierced the exact spot where I had been standing a split second ago.
Then, the now-familiar sound trailed closely behind the light.
...Pshooooooo...
The sound of a railgun projectile tearing through the air.
"What in the world? We definitely destroyed it?!"
Through the rising dust, I saw No Taekyeong and Kang Sihyeon taking up defensive stances.
They had also been within the railgun's trajectory, but somehow managed to evade it.
I traced my gaze along the faint, lingering blue trail of the railgun.
Far in the distance, deep within the city where the human army's tanks had been annihilated, a blue flash strobed.
"There's another tank?! What does that mean?! The history books definitely said only one appeared!"
We looked at Lee Jun, but she shook her head with a tearful expression, seemingly just as bewildered by what was happening.
Instead, Kang Sihyeon answered.
"It is entirely possible."
He drew a bizarrely shaped dagger, holding it in a reverse grip.
"Human history only records what humans were able to observe. If two units were prepared that day, and one was simply deployed ahead of the other, only for our forces to be wiped out by that single unit..."
Just then, screams erupted from the Players who had participated in the battle.
"Aaaaargh!"
"The Witch! The Witch is...!"
The Witch in the red dress who had manipulated ice.
A torso that appeared to be hers lay sprawled on the ground.
It was merely an assumption.
Because there was no upper body—only her lower half remained.
Kang Sihyeon looked at me and said, "Escape. A second tank might be manageable, but now that a second has appeared, there is no guarantee a third or fourth won't follow."
An ominous, dark aura surged from the dagger in Kang Sihyeon's hand.
"I will buy us some ti—"
Kang Sihyeon couldn't finish his sentence.
A sound loud enough to drown out his voice reverberated across the entire area.
Shatter!
The sound of the sky cracking echoed from above.
I looked up to see a portion of the sky, which had been choked with black smoke and gray ash, splitting open.
Beyond the fractured sky, the world on the other side revealed itself.
A realm that human sensory organs could not properly comprehend.
In a black void where all manner of geometric shapes materialized and vanished, green characters cascaded endlessly.