Boss: The Herald #2
The things that tormented students at Ludens in D&A weren't limited to the island's cruelty. What made a difficult game truly compelling was the presence of villains worth defeating. In D&A, there were two major villainous organizations.
The first was Fimblevert. It was a group that appeared from the early episodes and played a crucial role all the way to the end. When Gawain had asked me, "Do you happen to know about Fimblevert?" I naturally had to nod and say that I did.
"Yes. I know of them. It's a name no disciplinary committee executor could possibly be ignorant of."
My appropriately positive response brought a look of relief to Gawain's face.
"That'll save us some time on explanations, then. I'll be direct, Victor. Fimblevert is preparing to move again."
I figured as much. The masked bastards from yesterday had said, "We are winter," which was basically the organization's catchphrase. And the crucifixion frame I'd seen that morning was unmistakably the work of the executive herald—Enrique. According to the original episode, they shouldn't have started their activities for another week to two weeks at least. But none of that mattered now.
"This has nothing to do with me."
"No, it does. They're watching you, Victor."
That terrorist group was watching me? Why? I hadn't done anything to earn their hostility. Did it have something to do with the original Victor? No, that didn't seem likely.
As I pondered this, the protagonist Luke raised his hand.
"Um, senior. Could I ask what exactly these Fimble... whatever guys actually do?"
"Ah, that's right—you're a transfer student. And since this organization isn't well known outside of the third-years, it's not strange that you wouldn't know."
Gawain stood up smoothly and began writing on a blackboard he'd brought from somewhere, explaining as he went.
"Their first activities began two years ago. At first, we thought they were just a gang of dropouts and expelled students. But that wasn't the case."
"It wasn't?"
"They launched organized attacks on Ludens. The former student council president, Orca Arclight, eventually issued a subjugation order, captured their leader, and dismantled the group. This all happened when I was a first-year."
What a concise explanation. In short, they were a reactionary group centered around Ludens's expelled and dropout students. People with grudges against the academy who harbored resentment toward the system and attacked students.
Then Luke asked, "So you're saying the group that was dismantled has started moving again?"
"It certainly looks that way. If what that guy over there says is true."
Gawain pointed, and there was a small side room. When we went over, a vagrant was writhing around, tightly bound with ropes.
Gawain kicked the man's body lightly.
"Former first-year Class C, number 25, Ganash. He was my classmate. Got expelled during our first year. I heard he'd gone back to the mainland, but to think he'd joined Fimblevert..."
"Heh heh, Gawain. Long time no see. Still obsessed with swordsmanship?"
The expelled student with his messy brown hair looked us over. Then he smiled slyly and said,
"Soon enough, you'll understand us too. That whole 'crown' thing is a lie. Ludens is lying to everyone."
At those strange words, Diarmuid—the blond pretty boy and top student of Class A—reacted.
"A lie? What exactly do you mean? Explain yourself."
"You're a first-year, huh. No wonder you don't know. I was just like you once. Do you want to become a hero? Like the seniors before you? But do you know what happens to heroes in the end?"
"The end...?"
"Their endings are all miserable. We're nothing but pawns in the gods' game. If we can't escape fate no matter what we do, shouldn't we at least stop them from rolling the dice?"
I'd heard this line before. I never thought I'd hear it directly in this situation, though. Wondering if it matched what I knew, I decided to ask one question.
"So that's why you're targeting promising students? The destruction of the defense facilities—was that for the same reason? You were trying to identify the most talented ones when the monsters invaded."
This was the original first-act episode. I wondered if there were any variables different from what I knew, but Ganash let out a low chuckle.
"For someone with such a stiff face, you've got pretty good instincts. You must be Victor. Yes, just as you said, we target the sprouts. And you're one of them. The highest priority target."
I already knew that Fimblevert targeted promising students. The first act was the story of Luke, who had brilliantly handled the monster invasion during the entrance ceremony, becoming their target. During that time, Diarmuid would also be targeted, and Victorica and other outstanding students would face attacks. In more difficult second playthroughs, some students would even retire from the assaults here and be excluded from the party starting in Act 2.
But what I couldn't understand was this: Why was I being targeted? The highest priority? Not Luke?
As I was wondering this, Victorica asked, "Why are you targeting Victor? He's not even on the disciplinary committee anymore."
"We have eyes and ears too. We heard he slaughtered a tier-one monster. And he did it with just one other person. Of course we'd watch him."
Ah, damn. So that was the problem. Though I hadn't actually slaughtered it. I'd just been efficient.
At that moment, Gawain asked, "But Ganash, aren't you being a little too honest here? How are we supposed to trust you?"
"Think whatever you want. But remember this. We're trying to save you. We're trying to save you from the path of heroes, from this prison-like academy—"
Ganash couldn't finish his sentence because Gawain's merciless kick landed squarely in his solar plexus.
"Gack!"
As Ganash fainted, Gawain, the sword club president, said, "Don't listen to them. You'll get brainwashed. They have a talent for that. Probably Enrique's doing. He's the one they call the herald now... Oh, and by the way, the herald is..."
Gawain began explaining about Herald Enrique. I didn't need to hear any more of this story. So I decided to move.
"Victor, where are you going!?"
To Victorica's question, I simply replied lightly.
"They're not only after me. That Ganash bastard hid information cleverly within the truth."
I wasn't the only one who'd taken down a tier-one monster.
"Luke, I'll leave Enrique's side to you. Also, take care of my share of the lunch box and the absence note. You can handle that, right?"
"Huh...? Oh, yeah. Leave it to me."
Nike was in danger. The ones who attacked us last night hadn't been aiming for Victorica.
The herald event in Act 1 of the first playthrough was simple. Villains appeared, explained "Who we are!", and you experienced your first boss encounter. It was straightforward and by the book.
But the herald event in Act 1 of the second playthrough had a completely different nature. Students could retire here. For example, the 'honor student' Diarmuid would get attacked and suffer serious injuries—disappearing from the story for the rest of that playthrough. It was a difficulty balance patch for players who thought they had gotten used to the game after clearing the first playthrough. And since it was random every time, you had to be quite careful when forming parties.
Of course, major main characters like Victorica and Enio wouldn't retire and were fixed. Nike, added as the face of the DLC, would likely have a high chance of being safe too. So I'd assumed there was no need to worry.
But this was reality. It was different from the game.
"I need to hurry."
I urged myself on. And so I returned once again to the Forest of Mystery. As I navigated the now-familiar forest paths, I saw students murmuring among themselves.
"Ugh, what the hell were those guys..."
"People in black masks suddenly appeared and..."
From their murmuring, I could roughly grasp the situation. I just hoped nothing serious had happened.
Even Victor, who possessed the Steel mentality, couldn't help feeling a bit anxious. As sweat began to form in my tightly clenched palms—
"......"
Dried jerky was scattered across the ground, and the spice herbs I'd secured in advance before the Forest of Mystery became a hotspot were trampled. But what caught my eye most was the cabin.
The cabin—no, it would be more accurate to call it a shack. Nike would get angry if I called it that, yelling, "It's clearly a wonderful cabin no matter how you look at it!" But seeing the site now, so horribly destroyed that not even a trace remained, various memories of the past flashed through my mind, making my vision blur.
"This is a debt. I have to collect it."
If you receive something, you return it. The truth was simple enough for even a fool to understand.
"Hey, you. The ones who were here. Do you know where they went?"
I grabbed one of the nearby flustered students and asked. He quickly pointed, saying, "Over there, that way...!"
I ran in that direction. Fortunately, I had more than enough stamina to run.
After running for quite a while, I finally saw a group of people surrounding someone in the center—Nike, who looked extremely flustered.
"Nike!"
"...Victor! A bunch of debt collectors showed up!"
No matter how I looked at them, these guys didn't seem like debt collectors. Anyway, that wasn't important right now.
"Tsk, Victor's back."
"He's the one who supposedly took down that tier-one monster..."
"Don't get nervous. Without a weapon, that guy's only an F-rank in hand-to-hand combat!"
Five men. That was quite a large number to come capture one poor, dirt-poor female student. Could I handle them? The question I'd felt ever since accepting the request at the Hall of Adventure filled my mind.
Just how much of my strength could I display in this world? Knowing skills and using them. And moving my body directly. Between those two things existed a wall thicker and stronger than any monitor screen.
No, there was no time to hesitate.
"Charge him! Everyone hit him however you can!"
They suddenly rushed toward us. The club in one's hand flew toward my head with a whoosh. It was a terrifying attack, but strangely, its trajectory was clearly visible.
I tilted my head back, and the attacker, having lost his balance, stumbled right in front of me. I simply drove my knee upward. It landed a clean hit on his solar plexus.
"Gueeegh!"
"T-that guy... he's pretty good even with bare hands...!"
Well, I did have decent basic physical stats. After all, I was a mid-boss in the series. There was no way I'd lose to these Act 1 grunts. They were all just expelled or dropout failures anyway. Plenty of them were worse than bare-handed Victor.
"Illegal damage or destruction of another's property. If I were still a disciplinary committee executor, you'd all be subject to immediate punishment."
"This guy who's about to go down sure talks big! Everyone, get him!"
"Yeah!"
"Take him down!"
"Stop talking and someone go first!"
Whether they were frightened by my unexpectedly strong resistance or not, they couldn't easily bring themselves to attack. Then they seemed to change their minds and started targeting Nike instead of me.
"Y-you debt collector bastards! It's not even the interest payment date yet!"
Nike put up a decent fight. She waved her hands around wildly or grabbed a nearby tree branch and swung it. But her stamina wasn't enough to defeat five healthy men. Eventually, Nike tripped as if her ankle had been caught by the hyena-like attackers coming from all sides, and a club flew toward her small head.
"Nike, get down!"
"Eek!"
I decided to protect Nike right before the attack landed. I covered her small body with my larger one. They began mercilessly striking my back with their blunt weapons.
"Hit him hard!"
"Knock him out and drag him to the boss!"
"Those arrogant Class A bastards who always acted so superior! Serves you right! This is payback from us dropouts!"
Thud. Thwack. Thud—. Thwack!
"......"
It hurt. But it was bearable. Eating that Bomb Sauce Bulgogi had been far more shocking. Was becoming a boss with only 15 HP bars not just for show? These Act 1 small fries could only do this much.
However, Nike, whom I was shielding, looked even more distressed than I did while getting hit.
"Victor! I'm sorry, it's because of me!"
"...It's not because of you."
Nike seemed to have misunderstood. She probably thought I'd deliberately sacrificed myself to save her. But I hadn't done this with the thought of having to save Nike. Victor wasn't that kind of sweet guy. He was just a steel machine that moved according to rules. There wasn't a single line in Ludens's thick law books or in Victor's head about soft, warm regulations like "must protect the weak."
Therefore, this was simply that.
"Self-regulation."
The rule I, Ha Seungri, had set for myself. I hated seeing innocent weak people being trampled by powerful majorities or the strong. I would have done the same even if it wasn't Nike. Even if it meant taking on two hundred million in debt and losing half my youth because of it.
"Self-regulation..."
Nike seemed moved by my words.
"...Victor, I'm sorry. Pretend you didn't see what happens next."
Then she muttered something incomprehensible before finally shouting loudly.
"Bloom, Thorny Root!"
It happened almost simultaneously. The one-sided beating and violence that had been raining down on me stopped.
"Whoa, w-what the hell!"
"Something weird is wrapping around my body!"
"W-wasn't the target supposed to be a Class C student! How does a Class C reject have this kind of ability—ugh!"
"I can't move a finger—gueeegh!"
"I can't even run, ugh."
Strange roots growing from the ground were wrapping around the thugs' bodies, rendering them completely immobile! This was a technique I knew well.
The skill Thorny Root. It was a skill learned when the protagonist Luke took the nature-affinity skill tree. A useful utility skill that bound enemies and prevented movement for about three turns.
Which meant—
"—Nike, you were actually a druid."
"I'm sorry for hiding it..."
It didn't matter that she'd hidden it. There must have been some reason. But there was one thing I had to make clear.
"What do you mean, you're clearly an earth mage."